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AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 


AN  AFFAIR 
OF  STATE 

J.C.Snaith 


Garden  City.New^rk 

DOUBLEDAY.  PAGE  Ef  CO.. 
1913 


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Cojn/right,  1913,  by 
DOUBLEDAY,  PaGE  &  COMPANY 

All  rights  reserved,  including  that  of 

translation  into  foreign  languages, 

including  the  Scandinavian 


AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 


PART  ONE 
THE  CRISIS 


ON  a  winter's  evening,  not  long  ago,  a  man  was 
walking  along  Bond  Street  in  London,  in  a 
downpour  of  rain.  Beneath  his  rather  shabby  over- 
coat was  a  suit  of  evening  clothes,  although  a  pair  of 
thick  boots  and  a  bowler  hat  did  not  suggest  its 
presence.  It  was  a  dirty  night.  At  frequent 
intervals  the  wind,  in  sudden,  fitful  gusts,  came 
shrieking  round  the  corners  of  the  by-streets  that 
run  into  the  famous  thoroughfare.  Every  yard  of 
his  progress  had  to  be  fought  for,  but  there  was  some- 
thing about  the  compact  and  powerful  figure  which 
seemed  to  welcome  this  contention  with  the  elements. 
The  face  of  the  man,  undefended  by  an  umbrella, 
was  full  of  power.  The  large  aggressive  nose  and 
the  fighting  jaw  literally  clove  their  way  through 
wind  and  water.  There  was  a  look  of  subtle  satis- 
faction about  him,  as  of  a  full-blooded  animal 
occupied  worthily.  In  the  square-fronted  march 
through  the  teeth  of  the  gale,  in  the  drive  of  tke 

3 


4  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

athletic  limbs,  there  was  the  stern  delight  that 
warriors  feel.  Wind  and  water  furiously  contested 
every  yard  that  he  made;  but  this  Titan,  chin  in  the 
air,  a  grim  smile  upon  his  face,  abated  not  a  point  in 
his  course. 

At  the  Grafton  Street  crossing  an  unseen  power, 
subtle  and  mysterious,  which  is  called  Chance  in  the 
present  age  of  science,  leaped  suddenly  to  the  aid 
of  the  agents  of  the  air.  The  wayfarers  stepped  off 
the  pavement  boldly,  perhaps  a  little  unwarily,  for 
the  shops  were  closed  and  the  street  lamps  gave  none 
too  much  light,  just  as  a  taximeter  cab  dashed 
noiselessly  round  the  corner  of  the  street.  Only  a 
man  of  uncommon  quickness  and  presence  of  mind 
could  have  saved  himself. 

He  sprang  back  to  the  pavement,  but  quick  as 
he  was  the  lamp  of  the  vehicle  missed  him  by  a 
hairbreadth,  while  its  wheels  flung  a  liberal  supply 
of  mud  over  his  garments.  Further  agility  was 
necessary  to  avoid  a  collision  with  a  policeman  who 
had  just  tried  the  door  of  a  jeweller's  shop. 

"Constable,  did  you  notice  that  fellow?" 

The  tone  was  challenging,  imperious,  and  yet  by 
some  miracle  it  was  perfectly  polite. 

Constable  X94  paid  the  involuntary  homage  of  a 
demeanour  that  was  both  alert  and  respectful. 

"Yes,  sir,  I  did.  I  wish  I  could  have  seen  his 
number." 


THE  CRISIS  5 

"LC  00942.  Take  it  down.  I  shall  try  my  best 
to  have  an  example  made  of  him.  The  law  ought  to 
have  the  power  to  hang  such  scoundrels." 

Constable  X94  stepped  into  the  jeweller's  door- 
way and  produced  his  notebook. 

"You  are  quite  right,  sir,"  he  said  with  an  air  of 
conviction  equal  to  that  of  the  man  who  had  so 
narrowly  escaped  being  run  over.  "  It's  cruel  the  way 
they  come  round  these  corners  at  night.  Only  last 
week  a  gentleman  was  killed  not  a  hundred  yards  from 
here.     What  might  be  your  name  and  address,  sir?" 

"James  Draper,  200  Queen  Anne's  Gate." 

The  policeman  entered  the  information  in  his  book. 

"Not  the  Mr.  Draper,  sir?" 

"  If  you  will  have  it  so."  The  laugh  accompany- 
ing the  words  was  deep  and  musical. 

"A  nice  thing  for  the  country  if  he  had  run  over 
you,  sir!"  There  was  fervour  in  the  tone  of  Con- 
stable X94. 

"He  would  have  made  a  few  friends  for  himself, 
I  dare  say." 

The  Mr.  Draper  was  pleasantly  sardonic,  but 
Constable  X94  remained  stolid  and  quite  serious. 

"Not  among  those  who  know,  sir,  I  give  you  my 
word.  He'd  have  done  a  bad  evening's  work  for 
his  country." 

"Thank  you,  constable."  A  sudden  accession  of 
feeling  vibrated  in  the  deep  voice  of  the  man  in  the 


6  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

bowler  hat.  "Although,  mind  I  don't  say  you  are 
right,"  and  then  he  added  with  a  cordiality  that  was 
somehow  magnetic,   "Good-night I" 

"Good-night,  sir!"  said  Constable  X94. 

The  pedestrian  turned  to  make  another  attempt 
to  cross  the  street.  This  time  he  was  successful. 
Doggedly  he  fought  his  way  until  he  came  to  Bruton 
Street.  Turning  down  that  thoroughfare  he  came 
at  last  to  a  famous  house  at  the  extreme  end  of  the 
street.  It  was  a  large  cheerless  mansion  of  Georgian 
aspect,  with  an  ugly  courtyard  to  keep  it  sacred 
from  the  passers-by. 

Mr.  Draper  crossed  the  courtyard  and  rang  the 
bell  of  the  imposing  entrance. 

The  doors  swung  back  at  once  with  a  sweeping  swift- 
ness that  was  half  majestic,  half  magical.  There  was 
a  gorgeous  vision  of  powdered  wigs  and  silk  stock- 
ings; of  a  grave,  patriarchal  presence  in  the  back- 
ground; there  was  a  fairylike  glimpse  of  a  gorgeous  in- 
terior; there  was  a  sensuous  rush  of  warmth  and  light. 

One  overdressed  functionary  at  once  relieved  Mr. 
Draper  of  his  hat,  a  second  helped  him  to  remove  his 
soaked  chesterfield  overcoat,  a  third  and  a  fourth 
closed  the  doors;  and  while  the  pedestrian  turned 
down  the  ends  of  his  trousers,  an  office  he  was  fain 
to  perform  for  himself,  a  senior  servant  in  the  back- 
ground made  his  way  gravely  forward  through  the 
press  of  his  satellites  to  greet  his  visitor. 


THE  CRISIS  7 

"Good  evening,  Harpole."  The  air  of  the  visitor 
had  the  composure  of  one  who  so  far  from  being  im- 
pressed by  such  a  reception  was  a  little  bored  by 
it.  "A  nasty  night!  The  Duke  is  at  Lobourne,  I 
suppose  ?" 

"Yes,  sir,  his  Grace  went  down  to  Lobourne  on 
Friday.  He  is  expected  back  in  the  course  of  to- 
morrow." 

The  servant  led  the  way  up  a  staircase  of  white 
marble,  through  a  suite  of  reception  rooms  which 
had  a  number  of  famous  pictures  set  in  their  satin- 
wood  panels,  until,  coming  to  the  threshold  of  an 
inner  room,  he  announced  his  visitor. 

This  apartment,  much  smaller  than  the  others,  had 
a  slightly  obtrusive  note  of  luxury  which  suggested 
the  feminine.  Its  cushions  were  profuse,  oriental, 
languorous;  there  were  evidences  of  taste  and  per- 
ception in  the  charming  trifles  with  which  it  was 
carelessly  strewn;  the  rug  on  the  floor  was  a  delight 
to  the  foot;  and  the  seductive  warmth  of  the  place 
was  not  rendered  less  fragrant  by  the  fumes  of  a 
scented  tobacco. 

Howbeit,  merely  to  catalogue  these  details  is  to 
render  only  half  their  signiicance.  The  room  had 
another,  an  austerer  aspect.  There  was  a  case  full 
of  books  and  a  table  full  of  magazines;  there  was  a 
small  plaster  cast  of  a  well-known  statesman  on  the 
chimneypiece;  Plato  in  bronze  was  on  the  top  of 


8  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

the  bookcase;  the  Constitutional  Review  was  lying  face 
down  on  a  sofa.  On  this  sofa  was  seated  the  only 
person  the  room  contained:  a  woman  in  a  plain 
black  gown  smoking  a  cigarette. 

She  was  an  impressive,  formidable,  handsome 
person,  large  and  rather  masculine  of  feature.  At 
the  temples  the  thick  black  hair  was  turning  gray, 
and  this  lent  a  touch  of  picturesque  austerity  to  the 
face  which  was  that  of  a  woman  of  forty.  It  was  a 
sensitive  face,  full  of  fineness  and  perception.  About 
the  mouth  there  was  perhaps  a  faint  trace  of  cyni- 
cism, the  curves  of  the  nose  and  chin  held  the  love  of 
power,  but,  beyond  everything,  in  the  gray  eyes  was 
the  high  light  of  a  humorous  candour. 

**Eh  bien,  mon  cher!"  The  occupant  of  the  sofa 
aimed  a  cigarette,  three  parts  consumed,  at  the  fire- 
place and  missed  it  easily.  "Mayn't  I  tempt  you.^" 
She  held  out  her  gold  case. 

The  visitor  in  his  soaked  and  bespattered  thick 
boots,  in  his  old  dinner  jacket  and  rather  muddy 
trousers,  looked  curiously  out  of  harmony  with  his 
surroundings.  But  somehow  he  had  the  subtle  air 
of  one  who  did  not  move  in  the  plane  of  the  merely 
objective. 

"Thanks,  no."  Mr.  Draper  picked  the  lighted 
end  of  the  cigarette  off  the  hearthrug  and  dropped 
it  in  the  fire.  "I  have  only  once  smoked  a  ciga- 
rette.    And  then  I  thought  it  a  waste  of  time  and 


THE  CRISIS  9 

money.  I  was  a  shop  assistant  then,"  he  added  re- 
flectively. 

"Autres  temps,  autres  moeurs?" 

"I  don't  agree  with  you,  madam.  Once  a  shop 
assistant,  a  shop  assistant  always.  It  is  something 
in  the  blood.  One  couldn't  change  it  if  one  would, 
and  one  wouldn't  if  one  could." 

The  Duchess  of  Rockingham  laughed.  Her  very 
large  and  singularly  attractive  mouth  displayed  two 
dazzlingly  symmetrical  rows  of  white  teeth. 

"I  don't  believe  you,"  she  said.  "You  know  it's 
only  a  pose.  You  know  in  your  heart  you  simply 
hate  'em." 

"You've  no  right  to  say  that,  Evelyn,"  said 
Mr.  Draper.  "Shop  assistants  are  just  as  essential 
as  duchesses.  More  I  think.  I  won't  have  you 
say  it." 

Mr.  Draper  took  the  Constitutional  Review  off 
its  face,  closed  it  and  laid  in  on  the  table. 

"A  book  also,  to  my  mind,  has  its  corporate 
dignity  and  its  fixed  habit  of  life.  It  is  subversive 
of  both  to  be  left  open,  face  down,  on  a  sofa." 

Evelyn  Rockingham  chose  a  cigarette. 

"Now  you  have  lost  my  place,"  she  said  plain- 
tively. "Still,  I  forgive  you."  Her  eyes  brimmed 
with  humour.     "  You  are  in  your  best  form  to-night." 

"Page  996  —  but  life  is  too  short  for  such  twad- 
dle." 


lo  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

Mr.  Draper  handed  the  cigar-lighter  and  assisted 
her  Grace  with  a  quiet  efficiency  eminently  honour- 
able in  a  confirmed  non-smoker. 

"Yes,  it  is  twaddle." 

"Of  course  it  is  twaddle." 

"Well,  sit  here  you  Berserk."  Her  Grace  took  in 
a  reef,  and  indicated  a  vacant  space  on  the  sofa. 
"There  is  just  room  for  our  iete-d-tete," 

Mr.  Draper  sat  on  the  sofa. 

"Do  you  know  what  I  want  to  say  to  you?" 

"Not  in  the  least."  Mr.  Draper's  words  were 
light,  but  there  was  something  in  his  manner  which 
belied  them. 

"Guess!" 

"I  don't  believe  in  guessing  when  there  is  exact 
information  to  be  had  for  the  asking." 

"Don't  be  too  sure  of  that."  There  was  a  shade 
of  pique  in  the  tone.  If  such  a  self-security  did  not 
actually  call  for  rebuke,  it  jarred  a  little  on  the  femi- 
nine mechanism.  "And  suppose,  my  dear  James,  it 
is  not  to  be  had  for  the  asking,  how,  pray,  are  you 
going  to  get  it?" 

"By  grasping  the  throat  of  Metternich,  milady." 

The  answer  came  clear,  pat,  immediate. 

Milady  laughed. 

"One  doesn't  seem  to  recognize  the  tone  of  *the 
nobleman  with  the  bald  head,'  "  said  she. 

Mr.  Draper  laughed  also. 


THE  CRISIS  II 

"Ah,  you  are  all  alike  in  that,"  he  said.  "You, 
none  of  you  quite  realize  that  if  you  scratch  the  shop 
assistant  you  come  up  against  the  genus  Englishman, 
the  G —  d —  Britisher.  Perhaps  you'll  find  it  out." 
"  I'm  afraid  we  have  found  it  out  already." 
Evelyn's  laugh  was  rich,  clear,  spontaneous.  She 
lit  another  cigarette. 


n 

I  DON'T  know  about  that,"  said  Mr.  Draper 
with  the  air  of  a  man  thinking.  "I  have  a 
theory  that  you  never  find  out  anything." 

"Whom  do  you  mean  by  '  you  *f  " 

"You  patricians." 

"Are  there  any  these  days?" 

Mr.  Draper  reflected  a  little. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "I  think  there  are  a  few.  But," 
he  added  with  his  engaging  frankness,  "as  far  as  I 
am  concerned  the  discovery  is  comparatively  recent. 
I  used  to  think  that  caste  was  only  a  veneer,  but  since 
I've  married  Aline  I  find  that  it  isn't." 

Evelyn  was  amused. 

"A  graceful  compliment,  neatly  turned,"  she  said. 
"I  am  sure  you  didn't  learn  that  from  Aline.  In 
fact,  my  dear  James,  one  can't  imagine  you  learning 
anything  from  that  poor  child.  I  am  quite  sure  the 
Carlows  have  nothing  to  teach  you." 

"Oh,  yes,  they  have,"  said  Mr.  Draper  with  his  eyes 
glowing.  "  Everybody  has  something  to  teach  me.  I 
am  always  learning  things.  Nicholson,  my  butler,  has 
taught  me  a  lot.     He  is  another  of  your  patricians." 


THE  CRISIS  13 

"I  hope  you  don't  talk  like  this  to  Aline." 

"No,  of  course  one  can't,  poor  child.  And  there's 
the  rub  for  both  of  us.  I'm  sometimes  afraid  of 
the  future." 

"My  dear  James,  you  need  not  fear  that,"  said 
his  mentor.  "Still,  you  ought  never  to  have 
married  her,  you  know;  although,  of  course,  she  is 
rather  a  darling." 

"Yes,  it  is  all  a  glorious  mistake —  if  one  can 
only  keep  from  making  her  too  unhappy." 

Mr.  Draper's  extremely  agreeable  voice  vibrated 
with  feeling.     A  look  of  pain  came  into  his  eyes. 

"Yes,  it  was  very  rash  and  wicked,"  said  his 
friend.     "It  very  nearly  ruined  you." 

"I  am  not  sure  it  hasn't." 

"You  need  have  no  fear  now.  At  this  moment 
you  are  stronger  in  the  country  than  you  have  ever 
been  before." 

"Oh,  I  know!" 

Somehow  her  words  seemed  to  touch  a  hidden 
spring.  With  a  sudden  gesture  the  Minister  covered 
his  face  with  his  hands.  A  strange  wave  of  emotion 
seemed  almost  to  overmaster  him. 

"Evelyn,"  he  said  in  a  tone  which  thrilled  her, 
"I  am  a  lost  soul  in  Hades." 

"Poor  fellow!"  said  his  friend  in  a  voice  in  which 
sympathy  and  kindness  were  mingled.  "I  thought 
you  had  finally  put  all  that  behind  you." 


14  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"No,  upon  my  soul,  I  can't." 

Evelyn  placed  his  hand  gently  in  hers,  as  if  she 
must  soothe  his  pain. 

"Yes,"  she  said,  "I  suppose  it  is  only  natural  that 
a  true-blue  democrat  should  bleed  when  he  begins 
to  have  his  doubts  of  democracy." 

"Yes,  it's  something  to  abjure  the  faith  in  which 
you  have  been  bred,"  said  the  Minister.  "A  man 
doesn't  like  to  kick  away  the  stepping-stones  by 
which  he  has  risen.  But  there  seems  to  be  no 
alternative  now."  Suddenly  he  turned  to  confront 
the  fellow  occupant  of  the  sofa,  tapping  the  palm 
of  his  right  hand  with  a  finger  of  his  left.  "The 
fact  is,  Evelyn,  this  Bill  will  give  them  ultimately 
every  card  in  the  game." 

"Do  you  really  think  so.'"' 

"Yes,  I  do.  Looking  ahead,  that  is  the  real 
meaning  of  Clause  Nine.  Of  course  it  is  very  artfully 
dissembled.  But  that  is  my  deliberate  opinion,  and 
I  have  made  it  quite  clear  to  Grundy. 

"And  what  says  that  prince  of  opportunists,  the 
Prime  Minister?" 

"He  either  won't  see  it  or  he  can't  —  one  hesitates 
to  say  which." 

"Mr.  Facing-both-ways,  as  usual." 

"No,  Evelyn,  we  must  be  fair.  His  task  is 
stupendously  difficult." 

"I  have  no  patience  with  cowards." 


THE  CRISIS  IS 

"No,  you  must  be  fair.  Grundy  has  done  better 
than  any  other  man  could  have  done  in  his  place. 
But  il  a  les  defauts  de  ses  qualites,  that  is  all." 

"Well,  what  are  you  going  to  do?" 

A  slow  perspiration  gathered  upon  the  face  of 
the  Minister. 

"There  is  something  right  here,"  he  said,  clasping 
his  forehead,  "that  seems  to  tell  me  that  the  time 
has  come  when  we  who  love  England  must  start  to 
back  the  engine." 

"I  am  sure  you  are  right." 

"I  believe  in  the  people,  I  love  the  people,  I  have 
bled  for  the  people,  I  have  gone  to  gaol  for  them,  but 
a  still  small  voice  persists  in  telling  me  that  we 
mustn't  let  this  Bill  go  through." 

"Yes,"  said  Evelyn  Rockingham  in  a  lowered 
tone,  "no  one  can  deny  that  you  have  fully  earned 
your  title  of  the  people's  friend.  And  you  have  now 
the  opportunity  of  earning  the  still  more  comprehen- 
sive title  of  your  country's  friend." 

"They  are  all  so  blind,"  said  the  Minister. 
"They  can't  see  far  enough." 

"One  can't  expect  a  pack  of  placemen  to  look  into 
the  future,"  said  Evelyn  Rockingham  contemptu- 
ously. 

"Oh,  we  have  good  men.  We  have  honest  men. 
They  have  done  work  for  which  the  country  ought 
to  be  grateful.     All  honour  to  Grundy  and  sensible 


i6  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

old  George  Bryant  for  keeping  things  going  during 
this  last  terrible  year.  You  see,  Evelyn,  we  are  on 
the  verge  of  the  chasm  all  the  time." 

"Yes,  I  know." 

*'I  was  with  Grundy  till  two  o'clock  this  morning. 
And  his  parting  words  to  me  were,  '  For  God's  sake, 
Draper,  don't  undo  us.  If  anything  happens  to  this 
Bill  there  is  not  a  man  of  us  who  dare  contemplate 
the  consequences.'  " 

"He  means  there  will  be  an  end  of  his  precious 
Coalition?" 

"Unfortunately,  he  means  much  more  than  that." 

"Yes,  I  suppose  he  does." 

"Both  sides  have  played  it  up  so  high,  you  see, 
that  if  the  Coalition  goes  we  have  absolutely  nothing 
to  put  in  its  place." 

"There  is  Evan  Mauleverer!" 

"The  North  wouldn't  stand  him  for  an  hour.  We 
should  have  the  Northumbrian  miners  sacking  the 
metropolis." 

"It  hasn't  forgiven  his  fatuous  Conscription  Bill.^" 

"No;  and  it  never  will.  The  most  colossal  blunder 
of  modern  times.  It  lies  at  the  root  of  half  our 
troubles." 

In  one  of  his  sudden  accesses  Mr.  Draper  covered 
his  face  with  his  hands. 

"One  realizes,  of  course,"  said  Evelyn  Rockingham 
while  she  watched  the  man's  vivid  emotion,  "that 


THE  CRISIS  17 

the  North  is  the  clou  of  the  whole  thing.  And  that 
reminds  me  that  last  evening  out  at  dinner  Evan 
Mauleverer  himself  made  a  rather  impressive  remark. 
He  said  that  any  man  who  had  the  North  behind  him 
could  drive  a  wedge  through  the  three  estates." 

The  words  of  the  famous  leader  of  the  Right, 
whose  precision  of  phrase  was  admired  as  much  as 
his  reactionary  spirit  was  deplored  by  moderate 
people,  caused  the  president  of  the  Board  of  Concilia- 
tion to  remove  his  hands  from  his  rather  drawn  and 
haggard  face. 

"My  God,  that's  true!"  he  said. 

"James  Draper,  those  are  words  for  you  to  re- 
member." 

"Don't  tempt  me,"  said  the  Minister. 

"Let  me  remind  you,"  said  Evelyn,  whose  face 
was  now  mobile  and  luminous  with  its  own  emotion, 
"that  it  is  the  North  that  has  put  you  where  you 
are." 

"I  know." 

"If  Evan  Mauleverer  is  right,  and  I  think  he  is, 
you  are  the  strongest  man  in  the  country  to-day." 

The  Minister  clenched  his  hands. 

"Yes,  perhaps,"  he  said  softly.  "At  least  if  it 
were  put  to  the  test  the  only  man  I  should  fear 
would  be  Galloway." 

"Galloway?" 

"Yes  —  the  infamous  rapscallion." 


1 8  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"We  won't  talk  of  him.  Let  us  try  to  realize 
where  you  stand,  my  dear  James,  and  what  lies  ahead 
of  you." 

"No,  no,"  said  the  Minister.  "As  I  say,  we  are 
on  the  verge.  If  the  Coalition  goes,  everything  is 
darkness  and  eclipse." 

Evelyn  Rockingham  seized  him  by  the  arm.  "  No, 
my  dear  James,"  she  said,  speaking  with  decision 
and  intensity.  "England  looks  to  you  for  more  than 
that.  You  are  the  strongest  man  in  the  country 
and  you  are  the  straightest  man  in  politics  in 
spite  of  all  that  the  Right  has  to  say  of  you.  If 
this  Conciliation  Bill  is  not  an  honest  measure,  and 
is  going  to  give  the  Left  every  card  in  the  game,  it 
seems  to  me  that  there  is  only  one  thing  for  such  a 
man  as  you  to  do." 

"Which  at  the  moment  is  to  ring  for  a  whisky 
and  soda,"  said  the  Minister,  in  a  rather  dry  voice. 


in 

WHEN  this  refreshment  had  been  brought  Mr. 
Draper    became  very  thoughtful,  while  his 
companion  kept  her  eyes  fixed  upon  his  face. 

"It  all  turns  upon  my  position  in  the  country,"  he 
said  at  last.  "  Have  I  the  weight,  my  dear  Evelyn, 
the  strength,  the  authority?" 

"To  form  your  own  administration  and  carry  on 
the  Government  if  you  wreck  the  Coalition?" 

"Yes,  it  amounts  to  that.  If  I  am  not,  or  if  the 
country  loses  its  head  and  allows  Evan  Mauleverer  to 
ride  me  off  —  and  he  will  try  all  he  knows  to  do  that — 
it  will  mean  the  end  of  England  as  we  know  it." 

"He  either  fears  his  fate  too  much "  Evelyn 

quoted. 

"Yes,  I  know  —  but  they  would  be  taking  the 
tumbrils  down  Piccadilly.  You  see,  Evan  Maulev- 
erer has  endangered  the  monarchy  with  his  tomfool 
tricks.  There  is  always  that  lion  in  the  gate.  It's 
an  awful  responsibility.  Upon  my  soul,  I  don't 
think  any  man  ought  to  take  the  risk." 

"You  would  have  taken  it  three  years  ago  — 
before  you  married  Aline." 

19 


20  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"  I  shouldn't  have  wanted  to  take  it  then." 

"No,  you  were  then  the  friend  of  the  people.  We 
expect  you  to  be  the  friend  of  England  now." 

"What  sort  of  a  friend  shall  I  be  if  I  overthrow 
the  monarchy?" 

"You  must  be  the  first  president  of  our  republic." 
There  was  something  in  the  manner  in  which  the 
words  were  spoken  which  brought  him  abruptly  to 
his  feet. 

Again  the  perspiration  gathered  on  his  forehead. 
His  face  grew  deadly  white. 

He  began  to  pace  the  room.  He  was  like  a  lion 
in  a  cage.  The  brooding  eyes,  the  mane  of  hair, 
the  massive  jaw,  the  pervasive  sense  of  power  sug- 
gested not  inadequately  the  king  of  beasts. 

Suddenly  he  stopped,  took  the  occupant  of  the 
sofa  by  the  wrist,  and  peered  with  grim  intensity 
into  the  unflinching  eyes. 

"Look  here,  you  sibyl,"  he  said,  "you  shall 
prophesy!  What  if  we  send  these  cravens  pack- 
ing.?" 

The  woman  on  the  sofa  closed  her  eyes  and  laid 
back  her  head  among  the  cushions. 

"Well?" 

"A  Cromwell  will  arise  and  put  the  key  of  the 
House  of  Commons  in  his  pocket." 

"Phrases,  madam!" 

"Have  I  ever  misled  you?" 


THE  CRISIS  21 

"Never.  Without  reservation  I  say  that.  But 
I  ask  for  more  light." 

Evelyn  Rockingham  sat  up  and  flicked  the  ash 
from  her  cigarette. 

"If  you  only  had  imagination!  But  you  have, 
of  course,  else  you  would  not  have  got  so  far  in  so 
short  a  time.     Use  your  imagination,  my  friend!" 

"I  have  not  enough  imagination  to  see  myself  a 
Cromwell,  if  that  is  what  you  mean." 

"Then  I  must  supply  you  with  some  of  mine." 
The  syllables  were  soft,  delicate,  deliberate.  The 
sound  of  them  was  also  sibilant,  almost  like  the 
drawing  of  a  sword. 

The  Minister  breathed  heavily. 

"If  one  could  only  see  a  little  further,"  he  said. 

"Yes,  the  little  more!  But  at  least  you  are  aware 
that  the  three  parties  fear  James  Draper  like  the 
plague.'*" 

"No,  I  was  not  aware  of  it,"  said  the  Minister. 
"At  least  not  quite  so  specifically.  That  is,"  he  went 
on  rounding,  clarifying,  developing  his  thought, 
"they  may  have  to  fear  him  if  they  decline  to  play 
the  game." 

"Have  they  played  it?  —  are  they  playing  it."*" 

"Perhaps  not  the  game,  the  whole  game,  and 
nothing  but  the  game  —  but  then  who  does  play 
that?" 

"James  Draper." 


32  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

Again  Mr.  Draper  stayed  his  course.  He  looked 
his  companion  full  in  the  eyes.  The  accomplished 
woman  of  the  world  sustained  the  whole  force  of 
his  gaze  without  a  tremor.  The  cool  and  smiling 
candour  seemed  to  pierce  him. 

He  swooped  down  upon  her  and  bore  her  hand  to 
his  lips. 

"Thank  you,"  he  said,  "thank  you!" 

She  remained  sphinxlike,  immovable.  Her  eyes 
were  veiled  with  an  almost  imperceptible  laughter. 

"You  have  only  to  walk  into  the  Opposition 
lobby  on  Tuesday  night  to  bring  down  the  whole 
house  of  cards." 

"Better  a  house  of  cards  than  no  house  at  all." 

"Why  not  regard  it  as  a  preliminary  clearance  of 
the  ground  for  a  little  house-building  of  your  own?  " 

"Castle-building,  more  likely." 

"Is  it  that  even  now  you  don't  realize  your 
strength  in  the  country.?" 

Again  the  Minister  began  to  pace  up  and  down  the 
room.  Evelyn  Rockingham  watched  his  every 
movement  with  an  intentness  that  was  a  little 
cruel. 

"And  if  I  do!"  he  said,  again  facing  her  abruptly. 
^' Don't  you  see  that  we  are  on  the  verge.?  Assuming 
that  I  fire  them  out  on  Tuesday  night,  don't  you  see 
that  one  slight  miscalculation  might  send  those 
tumbrils  down  Piccadilly?" 


THE  CRISIS  23 

"Oh,  yes,  but  for  the  grace  of  God  working  through 
James  Draper." 

The  Minister  had  the  look  of  a  man  torm-ented  by 
a  thousands  imps. 

"Oh,  I  know  you  are  right!"  he  cried.  "These 
muddlers  —  timid  sophists  —  one-step-at-a-time  — 

look-before-you-leap  —  bah  1 "     Short,  rough, 

crackling,  half-coherent  sentences  were  flung  out 
of  this  volcano  at  intervals.  "They  can't  see  far 
enough.     They  can't  grasp  the  meaning  of  it  all." 

He  took  her  by  the  wrist. 

"Evelyn,"  he  said  imperiously,  "tell  me  what  has 
put  the  idea  of  Cromwell  into  that  wise  and  clever 
head?" 

"Events,  circumstances.  Circumstances,  events." 

"You  have  every  means,  of  course,  of  knowing 
the  play  of  forces." 

"You  must  continue  to  trust  me,  James." 

"Oh,  I  trust  you.  I  shall  always  trust  you. 
Whatever  happens  I  shall  trust  you  always." 

There  was  a  directness  and  a  simplicity  about  the 
words  that  brought  the  colour  slowly  to  her  face. 

"Then  if  I  hail  you  as  a  Cromwell,  I  ask  you  to 
believe  me  —  a  Cromwell  who  shall  deliver  my 
unhappy  country  lest  a  worse  fate  befall." 

The  voice  of  the  sibyl  was  musical,  deep,  and  dom- 
inant. With  a  gesture,  almost  of  anguish,  which  he 
made  no  attempt  to  conceal,  the  man  sank  slowly 


24  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

to  his  knees  before  her  and  buried  his  face  in  her  lap. 
It  was  the  colour  of  death. 

"Pray  for  me!"  he  said  in  a  broken  tone. 

"I  pray  for  you  continually.  The  man  and  the 
the  hour  —  the  hour  and  the  man,  my  prince." 

She  kissed  the  bowed  head  gravely.  Issuing  slowly 
from  her  cushions  she  rose  to  her  feet.  Tall  and 
splendid  she  looked  in  her  black  gown,  a  daughter 
of  a  noble  race.  There  was  a  fine  strength  about  her 
that  was  strangely  impressive. 

"On  Tuesday  you  must  fire  them  out.  I  shall  be 
there  behind  the  grille  —  in  my  best  hat!" 

The  man  had  the  look  of  one  who  is  being  driven 
beyond  his  limit. 

"You  are  absolutely  right,"  he  said,  and  the  words 
seemed  to  tear  him.  "  I  see  it  all  now.  I  see  where 
my  duty  lies.  But  who  am  I  that  I  should  apply  the 
match  which  may  blow  up  the  country." 

"There  will  be  no  explosion,  my  friend,  if  you  keep 
your  nerve.  On  the  contrary,  you  are  the  only  man 
who  can  save  the  country  now." 

The  Minister  stood  rigid,  with  head  upflung,  like 
a  stag  of  ten. 

"Yes,  my  God  —  you  have  spoken  the  truth!" 

He  wiped  the  sweat  from  his  face. 


IV. 

The  Duchess  of  Rockingham  to  the  Honour- 
able Mrs.  George  Glen-Maitland,  Sec- 
retary OF  the  Woman's  League 

DEAR  LAURA:  I  scribble  this  at  2  a.m.  in 
a  very  excited  state.  Sleep  is  out  of  the 
question,  so,  as  usual,  my  dear,  I  sit  down  to  bore  you 
in  the  hope  of  calming  weak  feminine  nerves  in  the 
process.  Why  were  we  born  women,  you  and  L''  — I 
more  particularly.  I  am  wretchedly  overwrought, 
the  result  of  a  three  hours'  tete-d-tete  with  that 
amazing  man. 

He  is  now  keyed  up  to  the  pitch  of  throwing  out 
this  infamous  Coalition  on  Tuesday  night.  God 
grant  that  he  is  right!  God  grant  that  his  vision 
be  just  and  true!  He  has  had  the  perception  to 
realize  that  if  Clause  Nine  of  the  Bill  goes  through  it 
is  the  last  straw  as  far  as  we  are  concerned,  and  that 
it  is  the  end,  politically,  of  the  classes  who  have  a 
tradition  to  conserve. 

What  an  irony  it  is  that  this  man  of  all  people, 
the  red  republican,  the  intellectual  rawhead  and 
bloodybones  of  a  few  short  years  ago,  should  now  be 

25 


26  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

ready  to  risk  everything  to  save  us  from  extinction. 
It  may  mean  political  suicide  for  him;  for  the  country 
it  may  mean  civil  war — the  air  is  heavy  with  rumours 
—  but  if  he  keeps  his  nerve  I  think  he  will  be  able 
to  point  a  course  for  this  crazy  ship  of  state. 

When  one  comes  to  think  of  it,  it  is  a  wonderful 
career.  It  seems  only  yesterday  that  he  made  his 
first  failure  in  the  House  of  Commons.  I  shall 
never  forget  his  coming  to  me  that  evening.  He  was 
an  utterly  broken  man.  And  I  remember  I  com- 
forted him  with  the  words  of  Dizzy,  "The  time  will 
come  when  they  will  hear  you."  And  he  burst  into 
tears  and  wept  like  a  child. 

Well,  the  time  has  come  now  with  a  vengeance. 
He  is  the  strongest  man  in  the  country.  Of  course, 
he  has  many  perils  to  face.  There  is  an  odious  cabal 
against  him,  and  one  is  afraid  he  is  too  simple  to 
suspect  it.  At  least  he  has  an  air  of  supreme  uncon- 
sciousness. 

Last  night,  at  a  party,  an  amusing  thing  happened. 
A.  cut  me  deliberately,  in  the  most  open  way.  I 
felt  like  boxing  the  ears  of  the  little  spitfire;  it  was 
such  a  fine  exhibition  of  the  Carlow  insolence.  The 
little  fool  is  frantically  jealous,  and  the  tragedy  is, 
my  dear,  that  Mr.  D.  is  still  very  much  in  love 
with  her. 

It  is  a  quaint,  mad  world.  To  think  of  such  a  man 
marrying  A.;  to  think  of  such  a  woman  as  myself 


THE  CRISIS  27 

having  married  Robert.  How  I  hate  and  despise 
that  parcel  of  vanities,  yet  I  continue  to  eat  his  salt 
and  to  sustain  him  in  his  degree. 

This  odious  cabal,  a  survival  of  Victorian  England 
at  its  worst,  suits  his  Grace's  book  pretty  well.  You 
know  how  mischievous  he  can  be;  and  like  the  nar- 
row, sterile,  over-civilized  bigot,  which  at  heart  he  is, 
he  simply  loathes  "the  Haberdasher,"  as  the  Bloods 
call  him.  The  cynical  wretch  goes  about  telling 
everybody  that  he  and  I  lead  a  cat  and  dog  life 
because  it  amuses  us;  and  to  keep  the  ball  rolling,  my 
wicked  husband  flirts  with  A.  in  the  most  shameless 
manner,  and  stuffs  her  head  with  all  sorts  of  non- 
sense about  Mr.  D.  and  myself. 

Of  course  I  worship  the  man.  But  we  are  no  more 
than  friends.  He  has  all  the  uneasy,  ill-timed  scru- 
pulousness of  the  bourgeoisie.  And  yet  one  cannot 
help  admiring  it,  even  if  it  is  a  little  inhuman  at 
times.  But  it  only  makes  this  cabal  more  devilish. 
Robert,  of  course,  is  bent  on  his  ruin.  He  makes  no 
secret  of  that.  He  keeps  prodding  up  the  Pecksniffs 
in  the  most  masterly  manner.  I  saw  him  coming 
out  of  Brooks's  yesterday,  hanging  on  the  arm  of 
St.  John  Becher,  the  "  pi "  editor.  I  could  tell  by 
the  look  on  his  face  that  he  despises  the  breed  as 
much  as  he  despises  all  things  under  the  sun,  but 
that  it  seemed  good  to  the  king  to  amuse  himself. 

I  wish  Robert  no  harm,  but  one  of  these  days  he 


28  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

deserves  to  be  severely  punished  for  his  levity. 
Rome  is  burning,  and  Robert  and  his  faction  saunter 
out  of  the  Turf,  and  White's  and  the  Travellers,  like 
a  parcel  of  overdressed  bookmakers,  backbiting  and 
criticising  and  weaving  their  miserable  plots.  What 
have  they  ever  done  for  the  country,  one  would  like 
to  know,  that  they  should  give  themselves  such  airs 
at  the  expense  of  their  betters.'' 

To  be  in  politics,  nowadays,  they  say  you  must 
belong  to  the  Right,  because  the  Right  are  sportsmen 
first  and  politicans  afterward.  That  is  the  kind  of 
cant  which  has  brought  the  whole  country  to  the 
verge  of  ruin.  Evan  Mauleverer  has  packed  his 
front  bench  with  amateurs  like  himself;  the  horny- 
handed  "pros"  on  the  Left  score  every  point  that 
they  want  to  score;  and  the  Centre,  the  real  brains 
and  backbone  of  the  nation,  finds  it  impossible  to 
carry  on  the  business  of  the  state. 

We  live  in  parlous  times,  my  dear.  If  the  Coali- 
tion goes,  as  it  certainly  will  on  Tuesday  evening, 
there  is  absolutely  nothing  to  put  in  its  place,  unless 
Draper  is  strong  enough  to  force  the  hands  of  his 
enemies  and  form  a  government.  I  think  he  is; 
otherwise  I  would  not  have  urged  him  to  put  his 
fortune  to  the  proof.  But  to  quote  his  own  phrase, 
"The  slightest  miscalculation  might  send  the  tum- 
brils down  Piccadilly." 

Yes,  my  dear,  the  hour  and  the  man  are  here.    The 


THE  CRISIS  29 

time  has  come  to  "back  the  engine" —  another  of  his 
phrases  —  unless  we  are  tamely  to  consent  to  being 
uprooted  by  an  insolent  and  overweening  proletariat. 
Clause  Nine  will  make  it  impregnable;  and  our 
noble  Roman,  who  entered  public  life  on  the  ex- 
treme Left,  less  than  fifteen  years  ago,  has  had  the 
wit  to  see  it,  and  he  is  going  to  have  the  courage  and 
the  honesty  to  act  on  his  knowledge. 

Robert  and  his  faction  hate  him  upon  instinct. 
His  early  indiscretions,  the  fruit  of  an  imperfect 
education,  are  still  remembered;  and  of  course  his 
shockingly  imprudent  marriage,  his  one  real  blunder, 
will  never  be  forgiven.  But  this  is  a  bid  for  their 
friendship.  If  they  have  the  sense  to  rise  to  an 
appreciation  of  the  man's  real  value,  so  much  the 
better  for  them;  if  they  continue  to  let  their  prej- 
udices override  their  judgment,  so  much  the  worse 
for  the  country.  Some  one  will  have  to  carry  on  the 
King's  Government.  Of  course  the  Bloods  will  try 
to  run  Evan  Mauleverer,  but  even  they  must 
realize  that  the  game  is  up.  There  is  the  monarchy 
to  consider  after  that  last  terrible  fiasco. 

No,  my  dear,  as  far  as  one  can  see  at  present,  it  is 
Draper  or  none.  It  is  possible  that  one  overrates 
him,  but  he  is  a  splendid  creature.  He  has  developed 
at  an  amazing  rate  and  now  he  hardly  bears  any 
traces  of  his  origin.  He  is  a  Whig,  modernized  and 
brought  up  to  date,  with  all  the  latest  improvements. 


30  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

and  a  noble  genius  added.  Moreover,  he  is  implicitly 
to  be  trusted.  He  says  what  he  means  and  he  means 
what  he  says.  I  suppose  that  is  the  secret  of  his 
power.  Evan  Mauleverer,  with  his  usual  affecta- 
tion of  depth,  says  the  man  is  too  transparent  to 
be  other  than  negligible.  Certainly  he  is  honest 
to  a  fault,  but  then,  as  I  told  him,  the  country 
may  be  in  a  mood  to  welcome  a  new  kind  of 
malaise. 

Tuesday  evening  looms  before  me  as  I  write  in  a 
kind  of  red  haze.  The  deed  is  so  momentous.  Will 
it  mean  chaos  .'*  Perhaps  —  who  knows "?  Or  shall  we 
live  to  see  his  statue  erected  at  the  bottom  of  St. 
James's  Street?  At  any  rate  the  die  is  cast.  I  pray 
God  that  He  may  arm  our  champion! 

I  shall  be  there  to  hear  him  "put  the  Government 
to  sleep."  I  find  myself  continually  using  his 
phrases,  as  I  dare  say  you  have  noticed.  It  will 
be  an  emotional  treat  at  any  rate.  He  is  the  great- 
est orator  since  Bright,  and  cast  in  a  mould  still 
ampler  than  that  man  of  genius.  With  the  Chamber 
in  its  present  state  of  decomposition  he  is  bound 
to  overthrow  it.  The  groundlings  —  75  per  cent, 
of  the  godless  Coalition  —  will  be  carried  off  their 
feet. 

My  prediction  is  that  a  week  from  to-night  the 
King's  Government  will  be  carried  on  by — no,  I  dare 
not  prophesy! 


THE  CRISIS  31 

Good-night,  my  dear.  Forgive  all  this.  I  am 
miserably  overwrought. 

Right  Honourable  James  Draper,  200.  Queen 
Anne's  Gate,  to  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Draper, 
5  Beaconfield  Villas,  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 

My  dear  Mother  :  I  am  writing  to  you  my  weekly 
letter  on  the  eve  of  a  great  crisis,  certainly  in  my  own 
life,  and,  as  I  believe,  in  the  life  of  the  nation.  I  have 
decided  to  take  a  very  hazardous  step,  and  by  the 
time  this  reaches  you,  you  will  be  able  read  what  has 
happened  and  be  in  a  position  to  draw  inferences  of 
your  own. 

The  step  I  contemplate  is  bound  to  have  very 
grave  and  far-reaching  consequences.  Indeed  it  is 
only  after  the  profoundest  searchings  of  heart  that  I 
have  decided  to  embark  upon  it.  There  is  no  need 
for  me  to  rehearse  the  state  of  affairs  in  the  country. 
Substantially  the  situation  is  as  it  was  a  week  ago, 
except  that  there  is  a  further  perceptible  weakening 
in  the  Centre. 

It  may  be  that  I  am  committing  political  suicide. 
Should  that  be  the  case,  although  public  life  is  very 
dear  to  me,  I  am  prepared  to  abide  the  issue,  because 
I  am  convinced  that  such  an  action,  whatever  may 
be  the  immediate  consequences  springing  out  of  it, 
must  result  in  the  ultimate  benefit  of  the  country. 


32  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

As  I  wrote  last  week,  the  present  state  affairs  is 
hopeless.  Grundy,  with  all  his  virtues,  is  not  a 
strong  enough  man  to  hold  the  Left,  which  is  able 
to  bring  enormous  pressure  to  bear  upon  him.  It 
is  my  firm  conviction  that  if  this  Bill  goes  through  in 
its  present  form  we  shall  cease  to  be  a  free  nation. 
Don't  shake  your  head  at  me,  but  there  is  no  tyranny 
like  the  tyranny  of  a  half-educated  democracy.  It 
has  all  the  power  now,  and  is  putting  it  to  unfair  uses. 
Grundy  in  his  anxiety  to  carry  on  the  Government  is 
unable  to  see  that,  but  we  who  love  England  must 
not  be  the  slaves  of  expedience,  nor  must  we  ignore 
the  truth.  I  am  a  man  of  the  people,  my  dear 
mother.  We  have  broken  the  back  of  more  than 
one  tyranny;  but  now  in  the  flush  of  our  triumph  we 
must  see  that  the  pendulum  does  not  swing  too  far. 
Let  no  man  blind  himself  to  injustice. 

Unless  a  trustworthy  Pilot  can  be  found,  a  plain 
man  good  at  need,  as  sure  as  fate  we  shall  have  the 
ship  on  the  rocks  —  even  if  she  is  not  on  them 
already.  Plainly,  I  don't  like  the  Bill.  It  won't 
bear  examination.  Dress  it  up  as  they  please,  it  is 
not  a  just  measure.  Sincere  its  authors  may  be; 
and  on  the  surface  the  thing  has  the  appearance  of 
an  honourable  compromise  which  by  judicious  stage 
management  may  pose  as  a  perfectly  innocent 
matter.  But  it  means  much  more  than  that  for 
those  who  have  eyes  to  see. 


THE  CRISIS  33 

No,  it  is  an  unprincipled  measure,  which  can  and 
will  be  put  presently  to  other  uses  than  those  for 
which  it  is  designed.  Grundy  cannot  or  will  not  see 
it,  but  old  George  Byrant  understands  it  well 
enough.  They  say  it  means  revolution  if  we  tear  it 
up.  Perhaps,  but  we  of  the  faith  must  do  battle 
though  the  heavens  fall.  And  after  all,  as  I  tell 
them,  the  Bill  itself  is  a  mere  attempt  to  postpone 
the  day  of  reckoning. 

It  will  be  a  spring  in  the  dark.  Perhaps  I  am 
undoing  the  work  of  years.  Perhaps  I  am  plunging 
the  country  into  indescribable  chaos.  But  I  must 
take  the  risk.  It  will  be  vain  to  struggle  when  the 
fetters  are  riveted.  It  may  be  that  my  position  in 
the  country  is  not  what  I  think  it  to  be.  But  the 
North  is  with  me  —  I  feel  that  in  my  veins.  I  am 
one  of  themselves;  there  is  my  Northumbrian  burr 
to  prove  it  —  and  as  there  is  a  God  in  heaven  they 
will  rally  when  they  hear  it  calling  them.  God 
bless  them! 

There  is  no  hope  of  help  from  the  Right.  They  are 
blind  with  self-love.  They  "have  no  use  for  the 
Haberdasher,"  these  superfine,  lily-white  gentlemen. 
Well,  we  shall  see.  Time  brings  some  queer  revenges. 
Meanwhile  Evan  Mauleverer  has  misread  all  the 
signals,  as  usual.  He  is  bound  to  make  a  bid  for 
office.  Elegant,  insolent  trifler!  Vain  fool  posing 
as  the  saviour  of  his  country! 


34  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

I  am  going  for  "the  knock-out."  The  master- 
secret  in  fighting  is  to  strike  once,  but  in  the  right 
place.  This  evening  I  must  use  every  ounce  I 
possess.  Somehow  I  seem  very  confident  now  the 
time  is  so  near.  My  duty  is  clear  and  God  has 
given  me  wonderful  strength.  If  I  get  home  I  shall 
put  the  Government  to  sleep;  if  I  don't,  all  parties 
will  conspire  to  rule  me  out  of  the  ring  forever. 

I  have  been  the  best  hated  man  in  the  country 
these  twelve  months  past.  They  say  I  am  too 
ambitious.  They  say  my  growing  power  is  con- 
trary to  the  public  interest.  Well,  we  shall  see. 
They  only  let  me  into  their  precious  Government 
out  of  sheer  cowardice;  and  they  are  not  able  to  keep 
me  in  it  now  they  have  got  me  there.  Considered 
as  individuals  there  are  good  men  and  true  among 
them,  but  in  their  corporate  capacity  they  are  arrant 
cowards.  Perhaps  this  trumpet-call  will  rally  the 
true  men  of  all  creeds  to  the  standard. 

If  it  be  the  will  of  God  that  the  strength  is 
vouchsafed  to  James  Draper  to  point  a  course  for 
the  old  ship,  so  be  it.  .  .  .  God  works  in  a  mys- 
terious way  His  wonders  to  perform.  Say  a  little 
prayer  for  me,  my  dear  mother! 

P.S.  — I  have  not  the  time,  nor  am  I  in  the  mood, 
for  domesticities.  Aline  is  spending  the  week-end 
in    the    country    with    her    aristocratic    friends.     I 


THE  CRISIS  35 

haven't  much  use  for  them  —  and  they,  you  may  be 
sure,  are  not  overfond  of  "the  Haberdasher."  Well, 
I  suppose  it  is  only  natural  that  they  should  distrust 
me.  All  the  same,  I  am  convinced  they  do  A.  no 
good.  Still,  she  is  one  of  themselves,  and  it  is  hardly 
fair  to  expect  a  charming  she-leopard  to  change  her 
spots  all  at  once.  Perhaps  my  marriage  was  a  mis- 
take, but  it  was  a  delicious  folly  of  which  I  don't 
intend  to  repent.  These  barbarians  have  something 
that  makes  them  fascinating,  irresistible.  You  know 
you  are  charmed  with  A.  yourself,  although  you 
shake  your  wise  head  over  her. 


MR.  DRAPER'S  interview  with  the  Duchess  of 
Rockingham  had  taken  place  late  on  the 
evening  of  Saturday.  On  the  morning  of  the  Wed- 
nesday following  he  was  seated  about  twelve  o'clock 
in  the  small  and  cosy  study  of  his  official  residence. 
The  appearance  he  presented  was  the  reverse  of 
elegant.  There  was  rather  more  than  twenty-four 
hours'  growth  of  beard  upon  his  chin.  A  white  silk 
handkerchief  did  duty  for  a  collar;  a  somewhat 
dilapidated  dressing-gown  fulfilled  the  functions  of  a 
coat,  and  in  lieu  of  the  stout  and  comfortable-looking 
boots,  which  were  already  rather  famous,  he  wore 
a  pair  of  carpet  slippers. 

On  a  small  table,  near  the  fire,  a  tray  was  set.  It 
contained  a  teapot,  a  liberal  supply  of  toast,  and 
three  boiled  eggs.  The  Planet  newspaper  was 
propped  against  the  teapot.  With  an  adroitness 
that  must  have  been  the  fruit  of  long  practice,  Mr. 
Draper  ministered  impartially  to  the  needs  of  the 
mind  and  the  needs  of  the  body. 

Line  by  line  he  read  his  speech  of  the  previous 
night.     The  report  of  it  in  the  famous  journal  was  a 

36 


THE  CRISIS  37 

miracle  of  accuracy  and  completeness.  Every  sen- 
tence was  there  in  its  integrity,  as  the  speaker  had 
delivered  it.  Almost  every  comma  was  in  place. 
The  orator  could  almost  catch  the  subtle  inflections 
of  his  own  voice  as  he  used  the  magical  words.  Para- 
graph by  paragraph  as  he  read,  he  nodded  his  head 
in  a  kind  of  rapturous  unison. 

Yes,  it  was  a  wonderful  piece  of  reporting.  It  was 
a  wonderful  speech.  The  clear,  simple,  spontaneous 
Saxon  English,  as  lucid  as  a  crystal;  the  flashes  of 
luminous  imagery  that  had  fused  the  minds  of  his 
hearers;  the  air  of  high  sincerity;  the  masculine  force 
of  reasoning  and  the  deep  note  of  conviction  which 
had  given  it  such  an  irresistible  momentum,  all  were 
here. 

There  came  a  point  halfway  down  the  second 
column  where  the  Minister  forgot  all  about  his 
breakfast.  His  mind  began  to  race  ahead.  He 
was  reading  now  in  a  kind  of  entrancement  with  his 
brain  on  fire.  Now  he  was  the  aesthete  listening  with 
a  sense  of  emotional  luxury  to  a  symphony  of  ex- 
quisite music;  now  he  was  the  acute  and  clear-sighted 
thinker,  almost  painfully  conscious  of  the  special 
conditions  that  had  called  it  forth. 

Suddenly  he  rose  from  the  table.  His  sombre 
eyes  were  blazing  out  of  a  deeply  lined  face.  Some- 
thing seemed  to  have  turned  his  veins  to  molten  fire. 

"Oh,  my  God!"  he  cried  to  his  peers  all  around 


38  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

him,  the  crowded  shelves  of  his  study,  "Oh,  my  God, 
what  a  power  you  have  given  me!" 

Demosthenes,  Cicero,  Burke, Bright, and  Gladstone 
were  with  him  in  the  room.  He  trembled  violently. 
He  was  almost  overpowered  by  a  desire  to  pray. 

The  words  of  the  sibyl  flamed  across  his  brain: 
"You  are  the  only  man  now  who  can  save  the 
country." 

The  remainder  of  his  breakfast  was  forgotten.  He 
turned  to  another  page  of  the  Planet  to  read  the 
leading  article  upon  his  speech.  He  hardly  expected 
it  to  interest  him.  The  art  of  the  party  journalist 
always  left  him  cold.  He  knew  the  source  to  be 
tainted;  his  instinct  told  him  that  here  would  be 
criticism  of  the  man,  not  an  appreciation  of  his 
motives. 

Yes,  the  great  newspaper  was  marshalling  its 
barbs.  A  look  of. pity  came  into  his  face.  But, 
steeled  as  he  was,  somehow  this  morning  this  obtuse 
partisanship  was  like  a  knife  between  his  ribs.  At 
such  a  moment  in  the  life  of  the  nation  it  was  very 
ill  done. 

Curiosity,  however,  enabled  him  to  read  on.  Very 
soon  there  began  to  emerge  from  the  welter  of 
partisan  spleen  a  genuine  note  of  alarm: 

"By  this  foul  stroke,  the  President  of  the  Board 
of  Conciliation,  who  of  all  men  should  have  held  his 


THE  CRISIS  39 

hand  in  this  acute  national  crisis,  has  undone  with  a 
single  blow  the  work  to  which  the  three  great  parties 
in  the  realm  have  so  painfully  and  so  precariously 
addressed  themselves  during  the  last  twelve  months. 
It  is  the  work  of  an  incendiary;  the  work  of  one  who 
sets  an  ignoble  personal  ambition  before  the  claims 
of  his  Sovereign  and  the  love  of  his  country.  At  such 
a  moment  as  this,  every  sane  and  responsible  English- 
man, acquainted  with  the  true  facts  of  the  situation, 
will  view  with  nothing  short  of  horror  the  downfall  of 
the  Coalition  Government  whose  doom  was  pro- 
nounced last  night  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  the 
man  of  all  others  who,  by  the  nature  of  his  office,  was 
pledged  to  uphold  it.  It  is  never  the  part  of  good 
citizenship  to  yield  to  panic,  but  we  are  forced  to 
affirm  that  by  his  wicked  and  immoral  action  the 
President  of  the  Board  of  Conciliation  has  plunged 
his  country  into  the  gravest  internal  crisis  since  that 
which  overwhelmed  it  on  the  fourth  of  January, 
1642." 

The  source  was  polluted;  but  for  once  the  cry  of 
"Wolf!"  was  sincere.  The  Planet  had  cried  "Wolf" 
so  often  and  so  loudly  that  impartial  minds,  for  all 
the  prestige  to  which  it  was  justly  entitled,  no  longer 
heeded  its  voice.  But  the  note  of  fear  was  unmis- 
takably genuine  this  morning. 


VI 

THERE  came  a  peremptory  knock  on  the  door. 
A   tall  woman   enveloped   in  a  sealskin  coat 
entered  the  study.     It  was  Evelyn  Rockingham. 

"Don't  blame  Nicholson,"  she  said.  "He  did 
his  best,  but  he  couldn't  keep  me  out." 

With  a  powerful  effort  of  the  will  the  Minister 
came  back  into  the  world  of  affairs.  He  set  a  chair 
for  his  visitor. 

"You'll  be  losing  a  good  servant  his  place,"  he 
said. 

The  duchess  laughed.  Her  humorous  eyes  had 
already  traversed  the  unrazored  chin,  the  scarf,  the 
dressing-gown  and  the  carpet  slippers. 

"I  think  he  deserves  to  lose  it,"  she  said. 

"Poor  fellow  —  if  you  knew  his  sufferings!" 

"Why  does  he  stay?" 

"Personal  magnetism,  I  suppose.  He  believes 
in  me.     He  was  there  last  night." 

Evelyn  nodded,  suddenly  grave. 

"  Is  the  door  closed  f "  She  looked  round.  "There 
is  no  possibility  of  our  being  overheard."*" 

"None." 

40 


THE  CRISIS  41 

"James  Draper,"  she  said,  "no  matter  what  hap- 
pens now,  you  must  keep  your  head.  If  you  don't, 
God  help  us  all." 

The  face  of  the  Minister  was  haggard. 

"There  is  quite  a  pleasant  little  family  party  at 
the  Palace  this  morning,"  said  the  duchess. 

"Yes,  I  expect  so." 

"Mr.  Grundy  was  there  by  nine  o'clock.  Evan 
Mauleverer  was  sent  for  at  ten.  Daventry  was 
sent  for  at  a  quarter-past,  and  even  our  poor,  dear 
Robert  had  to  dress  in  a  desperate  hurry  before 
eleven." 

"Poor  Robert!"  said  the  Minister.  "Called  into 
the  councils  of  the  nation  at  such  an  ungodly 
hour." 

"Yes,  it's  an  unjust  world.  All  those  nincompoops 
as  blameless  as  the  babe  unborn;  and  here  is  the 
author  of  the  mischief  lingering  in  dressing-gown  and 
slippers  over  his  breakfast  at  twenty  minutes  past 
twelve  by  the  clock.  By  which  token  I  presume  you 
have  not  yet  been  summoned  to  the  councils  of  the 
nation." 

"Oh,  no,  it's  much  too  early.  Things  will  have 
to  be  pretty  hopeless  before  that  happens." 

"Yes,  I  suppose.  Yet  that  time  is  very  near.  By 
the  way,  I  see  you  have  the  Planet  there." 

"Yes." 

"A  pitiful  exhibition!" 


42  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Yes,  rather  pitiful."  The  face  of  the  Minister 
grew  suddenly  sad.  "If  only  it  would  learn  to  play 
fair  politically,  what  a  power  it  might  be!" 

"One  can  never  understand  why  it  doesn't." 

"Bred  in  a  bad  old  tradition.  Yet  it  tries  so  hard 
to  be  honest  in  everything  else." 

Evelyn  Rockingham  shrugged  her  shoulders  a 
little  contemptuously. 

"I  don't  think  women  have  much  cause  to  revere 
it.     Give  me  a  cigarette  to  purify  the  atmosphere." 

The  bell  was  rung  and  cigarettes  were  sent  for. 

"When  are  you  going  to  try  one?" 

"I  shall  have  to  try  something  to  stop  the  pres- 
sure," said  Mr.  Draper  in  a  hollow  tone.  "I 
haven't  closed  my  eyes  for  four  nights." 

"  Poor  fellow !     You  must  really  begin.     Try  this." 

She  chose  a  cigarette  from  the  box  that  had  been 
brought,  placed  it  between  his  lips  and  gravely  lit 
it  for  him. 

"Take  it  gently  at  first.  It  ought  to  do  you  good." 
Suddenly  she  knitted  her  brows.  "I  wonder,"  she 
said,  "if  the  collective  wisdom  of  that  precious 
crew  will  rise  to  the  only  possible  solution.'"' 

"What  is  the  only  possible  solution.?" 

"Do  you  honestly  mean  you  don't  know.^"' 

"Oh,  I  think  I  know;  it  is  merely  that  I  crave 
confirmation  of  my  own  prescience." 

"Evan  Mauleverer  is  the  man  who  frightens  me." 


THE  CRISIS  43 

"Surely  he  must  realize  that  all  the  signals  are 
set  dead  against  him." 

"He  realizes  nothing  beyond  the  fact  that  one 
Evan  Mauleverer  has  a  morbid  craving  for  office. 
We  were  boy  and  girl  together;  I  know  the  nature 
of  the  animal;  he  had  always  to  be  the  cock  of  every 
walk." 

"The  Right  in  its  furious  valour  will  spur  him  on, 
of  course,  but  unless  the  man  is  a  fool  he  must  know 
what  there  is  against  him." 

"He  is  so  arrogant;  and  he  has  always  surrounded 
himself  with  inferior  people.  I  hope  there  is  one 
among  that  precious  conclave  who  can  read  the 
writing  on  the  wall." 

"Well,  we  ought  to  know  very  soon  now." 

Mr.  Draper  looked  at  his  watch. 

"Perhaps  we  can  find  out  now,"  said  Evelyn 
Rockingham.  "Ask  Mr.  Renshaw  to  telephone  to 
Number  lo." 

"It  will  be  more  dignified  to  wait,"  said  the 
Minister,  rebuking  this  feminine  impatience  with  a 
gentle  show  of  indifference. 

"You  have  such  a  force  of  will,"  she  said.  "You 
have  a  force  of  will  so  much  greater  than  any  one  I 
have  ever  met.  Oh,  I  hope  these  fools  will  realize 
it!"     Her  voice  broke  a  little  queerly. 

"We  none  of  us  know  what  we  have,"  said  Mr. 
Draper,  "until  we  are  brought  to  the  test.     Evelyn" 


44  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

—  he  lifted  his  sombre  eyes  half-deprecatingly,  and 
she  coloured  a  little  at  the  curious  note  of  intimacy 
— ■  "Evelyn,  I  am  going  to  make  you  a  little  confes- 
sion. I  almost  wish  now  —  at  this  moment  —  that 
I  was  a  little  nearer  to  my  God." 

"Yes,  I  understand.  But  I've  always  thought  it 
was  only  we  weak  women  who  felt  that  sort  of  need.'' 

"There  is  the  woman  in  all  of  us,"  said  Mr.  Draper. 
"And  she  is  never  quite  strong  enough,  poor  soul. 
Cromwell  was  always  very  close  to  his  God.  It 
must  have  given  him  a  great  pull,  I  think." 

As  he  spoke  he  pointed  to  a  small  cast  in  plaster 
of  the  Lord  Protector  which  adorned  the  chimney- 
piece. 

"Forgive  my  asking  the  question,  but  are  you  on 
terms  with  your  own  God.""' 

"I  have  not  lost  the  habit  of  addressing  Him  on 
occasion." 

"Then  if  you  don't  mind"  —  the  Minister  spoke 
quite  humbly  and  a  little  shyly  —  "I  want  you,  in 
your  capacity  of  a  friend  to  whom  I  owe  a  very 
great  deal,  always  to  say  a  special  little  prayer  for 
James  Draper." 

As  he  spoke  he  collected  the  scattered  sheets  of 
the  Planet,  placed  them  together  and  folded  the 
paper  neatly.  He  had  hardly  done  this  when  his 
wife  came  into  the  room. 

Lady  Aline  Draper  was  a  slight,  petite,  charm- 


THE  CRISIS  45 

ingly  dainty  woman,  ten  years  younger  than  her 
husband.  She  had  at  that  moment  returned  from 
a  week-end  in  the  country. 

On  the  threshold  of  the  room  she  suffered  an 
instant  of  embarrassment. 

"How  are  you,  Aline?"  said  Evelyn  Rockingham, 
going  forward  to  meet  her. 

Lady  Aline 's  self-possession  was  equal  to  the  mo- 
ment, but  the  rather  childish  face  turned  the  colour 
of  snow. 

"How  are  you.  Aline.'"'  said  Evelyn  with  marked 
kindness. 

They  shook  hands. 

The  Minister  kissed  his  wife  affectionately. 

"Forgive  my  rags,  darling,"  he  said  simply 
enough.  "Somehow  I  had  got  it  into  my  head  that 
you  would  come  back  by  the  afternoon  train." 

Lady  Aline  had  now  flushed  rather  vividly.  She 
bit  her  lip.  Evelyn  Rockingham  was  not  proof 
against  a  little  stealthy,  slightly  malicious  amusement. 

"It's  not  his  fault,"  she  laughed.  "Poor  Nichol- 
son couldn't  keep  me  out.  I  said,  'It's  no  use, 
Nicholson,  I  know  where  to  find  him';  and  I  marched 
right  in  here.  And  there  was  the  wrecker  of  minis- 
tries in  what  he  is  pleased  to  call  his  dressing-gown 
—  you  must  really  buy  him  a  new  one,  my  dear,  and 
insist  on  his  wearing  it  —  struggling  with  the  Planet 
and  recalcitrant  egg-shells." 


46  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

This  speech,  carelessly  genial  and  with  perhaps  an 
undercurrent  of  malice,  did  nothing  to  lessen  the 
flush  in  the  cheeks  of  Lady  Aline.  She  made  no 
immediate  response  beyond  the  rather  lame  and 
conventional  rejoinder  that  she  was  sorry  to  disturb 
them. 

"I  hope  you  have  read  the  speech,"  said  Evelyn 
Rockingham. 

"Yes,  some  of  it." 

"Someofit?" 

"It  was  so  long." 

"So  long.?" 

The  two  women  looked  at  one  another  steadily. 
Their  eyes  had  narrowed  till  they  shone  like 
rapiers. 

"Yes,  so  long,"  said  Lady  Aline  upon  a  note  of 
defiance. 

"I  was  there,"  said  Evelyn,  "in  the  House.  I 
heard  every  word.  I  have  read  every  word  since. 
I  can  repeat  passages  by  heart." 

"Really!"     The  tone  was  cold  and  biting. 

Evelyn  flushed  now.  Her  fine  face  was  alive 
with  emotion. 

"It  was  a  very  wonderful  speech,"  she  said  in  a 
falling  voice. 

"I  thought  it  read  like  a  rather  dangerous  speech," 
said  Lady  Aline,  with  her  eyes  upon  the  other's  face. 
"I  hope  it  won't  turn  out  the  Government." 


THE  CRISIS  47 

"It  has  turned  out  the  Government." 

The  face  of  the  Minster's  wife  was  frankly  In- 
credulous. The  Minister  himself  stood  at  his  ease, 
his  hands  in  his  pockets  and  his  back  to  the  fire. 

"Jim I"  said  his  wife,  the  picture  of  consternation. 

Mr.  Draper  smiled  at  her  with  a  genuine  tender- 
ness in  his  eyes. 

"Poor  darling!"  he  said.  "Go  and  get  some 
lunch." 

The  slight  figure  stood  the  picture  of  dismay. 

"Jim,  what  have  you  done.''  "  she  said.  "That  is 
the  meaning  of  that  dreadful  article  In  the  Planet. 
They  say  you  have  destroyed  everything." 

"One  man  cannot  destroy  everything,  my  dear 
child,"  said  the  Minister. 

"But  the  Coalition!  As  long  as  that  held  there 
was  a  hope  of  keeping  things  together,  wasn't  there  ? 
Oh,  Jim!  what  have  you  done?"  Suddenly  the 
daughter  of  the  feudal  aristocracy,  to  whom  the 
security  of  the  existing  order  meant  so  much,  began 
to  expound  the  dire  truth  as  it  was  flashed  across  her 
mind.  "Oh,  it's  madness,  madness.  If  you  have 
turned  out  the  Coalition  you  have  ruined  your  party, 
you  have  ruined  your  country,  you  have  ruined 
yourself." 

"O  ye  of  little  faith!"  said  Evelyn  softly. 

The  other  woman,  for  all  her  childish  air,  gathered 
herself  with  a  gesture  of  fierce  disdain.     She  almost 


48  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

bit  her  lip  through  in  the  vain  attempt  to  repress  the 
tempest  that  was  raging  within.  The  struggle  left 
her  white  and  trembling,  but  silent. 

"Aline,"  said  the  Minister  in  a  singularly  gentle 
voice,  which  yet  was  full  of  pain,  "I  don't  think  you 
quite  understand  what  lies  behind  all  this.  Pay  no 
attention  to  the  newspapers.  Things  are  not  always 
what  they  seem." 

But  Lady  Aline  was  not  listening  to  the  words  of 
her  husband.  She  was  looking  at  the  rather  mocking 
face  of  her  rival. 

"You  wicked  woman!"  The  words  were  chosen 
deliberately.  "It  was  you  who  set  him  on  to  this. 
I  see  everything.  You  think  if  he  overturns  the 
monarchy  it  may  help  your  miserable  Woman's 
League.  But  it  won't.  Where  will  any  of  us  be  if 
we  have  a  revolution.''  You  wicked  woman,  to  try 
to  ruin  the  country.  Evelyn,  if  there  is  a  God  in 
heaven  I  hope  He  will  punish  you." 

In  the  manner  of  a  small  whirlwind  Lady  Aline 
withdrew  from  the  room. 


VII 

MR.  DRAPER  and  Evelyn  Rockingham  were 
left  gazing  at  one  another  rather  blankly. 

"Poor  child!"  said  Lady  Aline's  husband.  There 
was  something  odd  in  his  voice. 

"She  can't  understand,  poor  child,"  said  Evelyn 
Rockingham.  "They  are  ali  alike,  the  Carlows. 
They  have  such  limitations.  Up  to  a  point  they  are 
splendid.  Beyond  that  point  they  are  pathetic, 
tragic,  hopeless." 

"Yes,  she  is  past  her  limit."  Not  only  the  voice 
but  the  face  of  the  Minister  was  full  of  pain.  "She 
can't  understand.  She  doesn't  know  where  we  are, 
my  dear  Evelyn,  you  and  I;  she  doesn't  know  in 
what  relation  we  stand  toward  the  civic  liberties 
of  our  country." 

With  a  gesture  of  homage  the  Minister  bore  her 
hand  to  his  lips. 

"That  is  how  I  think  of  you,"  he  said.  "I  think 
of  you  as  the  first  woman  of  your  time." 

The  perfect  simplicity  of  the  action  rendered 
Evelyn  silent.  There  was  something  childlike  in 
his  trust  of  her  and  it  made  her  wince. 

49 


50  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"I  hope  you  will  never  be  undeceived,"  she  said, 
half  involuntarily. 

"How  can  I  be?" 

His  sombre  eyes  sank  into  hers. 

"I  only  ask  you  not  to  raise  the  pedestal  too  high," 
she  said.  "Mortal  men,  you  know,  mortal  men,  as 
Falstaff  said  —  and  more  than  mortal  women." 

The  door  opened.     "May  I  come  in?" 

A  handsome,  acute-looking,  lawyer-like  man  about 
thirty  entered  carrying  his  hat  and  wearing  an  over- 
coat. 

"Oh,  it's  you,  Renshaw,  is  it?  What  are  the  tidings 
from  Number  lo?" 

"A  hopeless  muddle,  I'm  afraid,  sir,"  said  the 
private  secretary.  "They  all  seem  to  have  lost  their 
heads.  Nobody  is  willing  to  assume  responsibility 
for  anything.  Mr.  Grundy  resigned  at  a  quarter- 
past  nine,  and  Mr.  Mauleverer  cannot  be  persuaded 
to  accept  office." 

"What  is  the  source  of  your  information,  Mr. 
Renshaw?"  said  Evelyn  Rockingham.  "It  is  not 
like  Evan  Mauleverer  to  be  so  modest." 

"  Sir  John  Hooper  has  just  come  from  the  Palace. 
He  says  the  Centre  has  put  in  such  a  strong 
requisition  that  Mr.  Mauleverer  has  asked  the 
King  to  allow  him  to  postpone  his  decision  until 
to-morrow." 

"Let  us  hope  to-morrow  will  continue  to  bring 


THE  CRISIS  51 

wisdom,  Mr.  Renshaw,  even  to  Evan  Mauleverer," 
said  Evelyn  Rockingham,  "although  personally  I 
take  leave  to  doubt  it." 

"Things  are  in  a  hopeless  muddle  at  Number  10 
in  the  meantime,"  said  the  private  secretary.  "The 
Chief  Constable  of  Manchester  has  telephoned  for 
six  battalions  of  the  line  and  three  companies  of 
artillery  to  guard  the  permanent  way,  but  Sir  George 
has  declined  to  undertake  the  responsibility,  and 
no  one  seems  to  know  what  to  do  in  the  circum- 
stances." 

"Asses!"  said  the  ex-president  of  the  Board  of 
Conciliation.  "Why  don't  they  go  to  the  King. 
The  old  sentimental  humbug,  I  suppose,  of  safe- 
guarding the  popularity  of  the  Throne,  which  has 
done  as  much  as  anything  to  put  us  where  we  are. 
What's  a  King  for,  if  in  the  last  resort  he  can't  take 
upon  himself  to  defend  the  lives  and  uphold  the 
liberties  of  his  subjects."  The  Minister  strode  up 
and  down  the  room.  "Tell  me,  Renshaw,  what  are 
they  going  to  do?" 

"I'm  afraid  nothing  will  be  done,  sir,  until  after 
the  meeting  of  the  Privy  Council,  which  is  called 
for  to-morrow  morning  at  ten  o'clock." 

"Monstrous!  By  that  time  the  whole  service  of 
the  country  may  be  dislocated." 

Mr.  Draper  continued  to  stride  up  and  down  the 
room. 


52  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Do  you  really  mean  to  say  they  are  going  to  do 
nothing?" 

"I  am  afraid  that  is  their  intention,  sir.  I  under- 
stand that  Mr.  Grundy  has  consulted  Professor  Pery 
on  the  point  of  constitutional  law  involved,  and  on 
his  advice  action  will  be  deferred  until  the  Privy 
Council  has  met  to-morrow." 

"Oh,  my  God,  it's  like  a  comic  opera,"  groaned 
the  Minister,  "Isn't  anybody  going  to  take  the 
thing  in  hand.     There  isn't  a  moment  to  lose." 

"Now  that  the  Government  is  out,  sir,  they  don't 
seem  to  know  quite  where  they  are,  or  what  they 
should  do.  They  all  seem  to  be  waiting  for  some- 
body else  to  move." 

"It's  so  like  them,"  said  Evelyn  Rockingham. 

"I  think  I  had  better  go  and  see  the  King  myself," 
said  Mr.  Draper. 

"Yes,  do,"  said  Evelyn. 

"  I  will.     And  I  hope  he'll  excuse  my  chin.'* 


VIII 

I  HAVE  invited  myself  to  lunch. " 
Lady  Aline,  seated  alone  at  the  table  in  the 
large  and  gloomy  dining-room,  rose  to  greet  an 
impressive-looking  personage  who  had  been  an- 
nounced. He  was  a  fine-looking  man,  verging  upon 
fifty.  In  his  black  satin  cravat  was  a  very  brilliant 
diamond,  and  he  wore  a  decidedly  fanciful  frock-coat. 

"I  am  so  glad  to  see  you,"  she  said.  There  was 
a  cordiality  in  her  manner  which  showed  they  were 
great  friends.  "It  was  very  disappointing  you  were 
not  at  Cloudesley." 

"Yes,  my  dear  Aline,  very  disappointing.  But 
we  are  rather  making  history,  you  know,  just  at 
present." 

Robert  Conway,  seventh  duke  of  Rockingham, 
was  a  man  to  whom  his  country  should  have  been 
able  to  turn  with  confidence  in  its  hour  of  need. 
He  came  of  a  race  of  statesmen,  he  was  a  highly 
educated  man  of  the  world,  he  was  familiar  with 
the  art  of  government  in  its  most  specialized  and 
intricate  phases.  At  more  than  one  European  court 
he  was  a  popular  and  familiar  figure;  he  had  an 

S3 


54  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

extraordinary  personal  charm  when  he  cared  to  exert 
it;  and  had  it  pleased  Providence  to  call  him  to  a 
humbler  sphere,  where  an  honourable  ambition 
might  have  seemed  not  unbecoming,  he  had  many  of 
the  gifts  which  would  have  enabled  him  to  go  far. 
Had  he  chosen  to  cultivate  his  garden  he  might  have 
rendered  signal  service  to  the  country.  Unfortu- 
nately, life  had  always  been  made  easy  for  him.  He 
was  content  to  toy  with  statesmanship.  The  only 
things  he  treated  seriously  were  women  and  ily-fishing. 

"Did  you  hear  the  speech  last  night?"  asked 
Lady  Aline  as  they  seated  themselves  at  the  table. 

"Unfortunately,  no,"  said  the  Duke  with  an  odd 
grimace. 

"  I  want  you  to  answer  me  one  question,  Robert, " 
said  Lady  Aline.     "Has  it  ruined  him?" 

His  Grace  took  a  little  time  for  his  answer. 

"Yes,  of  course  it  has,"  he  said.  "And  it's  quite 
on  the  cards  that  it's  ruined  the  country.  Things 
are  in  a  hopeless  state  this  morning. " 

"One  would  have  thought  Evan  Mauleverer " 

"They'll  never  stand  poor  dear  Evan  for  a  quarter 
of  an  hour.  Of  course  we  might  try  him,  but  it's 
taking  a  frightful  risk.  The  working  classes  have 
got  conscription  on  the  brain  —  and  I  don't  blame 
'em.  Antrobus  says  we  should  have  the  Northum- 
brian miners  pulling  down  the  Houses  of  Parliament 
in  twenty-four  hours." 


THE  CRISIS  55 

"Well,  there's  nobody  else  —  is  there?" 

"Nobody,  absolutely  —  that  is,  at  the  moment. 
There  is  an  extraordinary  conflict  of  opinion." 

"Why  don't  they  ask  you,  Robert?" 

The  Duke  shrugged  his  shoulders  placidly. 

"This  is  a  job  for  a  professional,"  he  said.  "I  am 
only  an  amateur,  my  dear  Aline,  and  by  the  courtesy 
of  Providence  I'm  content  to  remain  one.  It's  not 
a  gentleman's  work  to  fight  those  dirty  dogs  on  the 
Left.  I  hold  my  nose  every  time  I  go  into  the  place 
and  carry  carbolic  in  my  handkerchief.  The  fact  is, 
my  dear  Aline,  that  filthy  scum  has  been  presented 
with  every  card  in  the  game. " 

"Yes,"  said  Lady  Aline  with  intense  bitterness. 

"Of  course  those  unwashed  beasts  will  demand  a 
referendum  if  we  don't  come  to  some  agreement 
mighty  soon,  and  then  it  will  be  a  case  of  Citizen 
Galloway  or  a  certain  gentleman  who  shall  be 
nameless." 

"Do  you  think  he  had  that  in  his  mind?" 

Rockingham  laughed,  not  very  pleasantly. 

"Undoubtedly.  At  least  a  certain  person  had 
it  in  hers." 

Lady  Aline's  face  hardened. 

"I  knew  she  had  set  him  on,"  she  said.  "I  knew 
she  was  serving  her  own  miserable  ends. " 

"There  is  one  thing  she  has  forgotten  though." 

"What  is  that?" 


56  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"The  Seventh  Commandment,"  said  his  Grace, 
looking  his  companion  imperturbably  in  the  eyes. 

The  face  of  Lady  Aline  was  the  colour  of  flame. 
The  glass  of  water  she  was  about  to  drink  slopped 
over  on  to  the  tablecloth. 

"England  is  a  very  moral  country,"  said  the 
Duke,  "and  her  Grace  has  forgotten  it.  There  is 
the  prettiest  little  cabal  going  on  since  Bulstrode, 
poor  devil,  was  hounded  out  of  politics.  St.  John 
Becher  is  the  most  important  man  in  London  just 
now.  The  purity  brigade  have  got  their  ears  back 
properly,  I  can  tell  you." 

The  face  of  Lady  Aline  was  now  the  colour  of  ashes. 

"It  seems  a  pity  that  a  fine  career  should  end  in 
that  way,"  said  the  Duke  imperturbably.  "I'm 
rather  sorry,"  he  added  with  a  somewhat  sinister 
air  of  magnanimity.  "He  has  such  possibilities. 
When  he's  up  he's  the  most  interesting  man  in  the 
House.  By  the  way,  I  met  him  striding  along  the 
Mall  just  now  as  though  his  life  depended  on  it. 
That  is  why  I  looked  in.  And  as  I  came  to  the  door, 
lo  and  behold!  her  Grace  was  driving  away  from  it." 

"She  simply  haunts  the  place  now." 

"I  know,"  said  the  husband  of  her  Grace  with 
calm  indifference.  "Well,  she  has  the  satisfaction 
of  having  ruined  a  man  of  genius.  I  suppose  it  is  a 
satisfaction  of  a  kind. " 

"I  can't  think  it  is  ruin." 


THE  CRISIS  57 

"You  would  have  thought  so  had  you  heard  what 
passed  this  morning  at  the  Palace.  The  studiously 
well-bred  manner  in  which  one  and  all  avoided 
the  mention  of  his  name  in  my  hearing  was  the 
choicest  bit  of  comedy  I've  seen  for  years.  Moliere 
never  surpassed  it.  And  as  though  one  cared  a 
continental  damn."  His  Grace  was  suddenly  over- 
whelmed by  laughter  which  sounded  absolutely 
unforced  and  spontaneous.  "It's  a  quaint,  mad 
world,  my  masters.  I  must  say  the  atmosphere  was 
rather  overpowering.  By  Jove,  Aline,"  the  Duke 
laid  down  his  knife  and  fork,  "if  I  didn't  dislike  the 
man  so  intensely,  I'd  rather  like  to  see  him  play  a 
coup.  Somehow  Mr.  Pecksniff  always  gets  one  on 
the  raw." 

Lady  Aline  was  silent.  She  and  Rockingham 
were  very  old  friends,  and  she  was  well  accustomed 
to  his  frankness.  But  this  morning  it  had  a  note 
of  confidence  that  was  almost  brutal.  He  had 
always  chosen  to  ignore  the  fact  that  she  had  married 
"the  Haberdasher,"  but  even  he  had  never  quite 
permitted  himself  his  present  degree  of  license. 

"I  wonder  if  the  man  is  capable  of  playing  a  coup. 
But  no"  —  the  tone  regained  its  assurance  —  "the 
fellow  is  not  big  enough  and  deep  enough  for  that. " 

"What  do  you  mean  by  a  coup,  Robert?" 

"They  seem  to  think  in  the  Centre,  those  om- 
niscient   Moderates"  —  Rockingham's     tone     was 


58  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

bitingly  satirical  —  "that  Mr.  D.  having  crabbed 
all  parties,  having  cut  the  ground  from  under  the 
feet  of  everybody,  might  make  a  trial  of  his  own 
strength.  They  seem  to  think  he  has  an  enormous 
and  growing  power  in  the  country. " 

The  Duke's  laugh  was  not  agreeable.  It  may  have 
been  an  emanation  of  the  offended  patriot;  on  the 
other  hand,  it  had  a  note  which  did  not  exactly 
proclaim  an  unalloyed  altruism. 

"I  suppose  Evelyn  might  help  him  there.'*"  said 
Lady  Aline. 

"She  is  mischievous  enough  for  anything.  And 
of  course  that  infernal  League,  now  that  women 
have  become  so  important,  has,  in  a  way,  to  be 
reckoned  with.  They  say  he  has  a  strange  power 
over  women.  But  of  course  he  must  have,  else  you 
wouldn't  have  married  him." 

"I  married  him  for  love,"  said  Lady  Aline  quite 
simply. 

Rockingham  nodded  his  head  in  a  kind  of  pity. 

"Poor  girl,"  he  said  very  gently.  "I  wish  I 
understood  more  about  women.  They  are  so 
amazing.  That  Aline  Carlow,  of  all  people,  should 
have  married  the  Haberdasher!" 

"He  has  genius." 

"That  is  to  say,  he  suffers  from  a  rather  obscure 
mental  disease." 

"He  has  given  me  my  moments  though.     My  life 


THE  CRISIS  59 

would  have  been  nothing  without  him.  It  has  been  a 
great  experience.     I  am  proud  to  have  been  his  wife. " 

The  slow  tears  gathered  in  her  eyes.  Rockingham 
was  silent. 

"It  is  all  over  now,"  she  said.  "I  cannot  hold 
him  now,  and  I  have  ceased  to  try.  He  has  gone 
beyond  me.  I  suppose  my  marriage  was  a  tragic 
mistake,  as  everybody  said  it  would  be.  But  I 
don't  regret  it." 

Lady  Aline  rose  abruptly  from  the  table  and  left 
the  room.  Rockingham  rose  and  followed  her  up- 
stairs to  her  boudoir.  In  that  seclusion  she  burst 
into  a  sudden,  uncontrollable  paroxysm  of  tears. 

He  regarded  coolly  the  exhibition  of  her  weakness. 

"Aline,"  he  said  at  length  very  softly,  taking  her 
hand  very  tenderly,  "you  must  avenge  yourself." 

The  slender  shoulders  were  shaken  with  uncon- 
trollable sobs. 

He  kissed  her. 

"Poor  little  soul!"  he  said. 

She  trembled  from  head  to  foot.  He  made  to 
take  her  in  his  arms,  but  like  a  small  child  who  is 
frightened  she  put  him  off.  He  gathered  the  charm- 
ing fair  head  firmly  against  his  shoulder. 

"There,"  he  said,  stroking  her  hair,  "have  a 
good  cry." 

He  kissed  her  again.  She  shivered  in  his  arms, 
but  she  was  a  little  comforted. 


6o  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"If  our  child  had  lived,  it  would  never  have 
happened." 

Again  the  slender  frame  was  shaken. 

"One  can  never  tell,"  said  Rockingham.  "The 
idol,  as  a  rule,  has  feet  of  clay.  You  remember  the 
old  saying  about  the  silk  purse .f*" 

"Don't,  Robert!"  said  Lady  Aline  piteously. 
"I  can't  bear  it.  He  is  the  noblest  man  I  have 
ever  known." 

"A  good  man  perverted  by  a  miserable,  mischief- 
making  woman.  She  perverts  everybody.  It  seems 
to  be  her  metier.''^ 

By  a  supreme  effort  Lady  Aline  managed  to 
regain  self-control. 

"Why  did  you  marry  her,  Robert.''" 

"I  married  her  for  her  intellect,"  said  the  Duke. 
"And  any  man  who  marries  a  woman  for  her 
intellect  deserves  to  pay  for  it. " 

Lady  Aline  smiled  sadly. 

"I  think  I  understand  now,  Robert,  why  they 
call  you  a  reactionary.  No  wonder  the  masses  hate 
you!" 

"Oh,  but  they  don't,  now  I've  won  the  Derby 
twice.  And  perhaps  you  think  the  classes  consider 
me  an  insolent  trifler,  eh.'*  You  mustn't  believe  it, 
my  dear  Aline.  I  merely  expound  the  faith  as  it 
walks  abroad  in  me.  I  try  to  have  the  courage  of 
my  convictions,  that  is  all." 


THE  CRISIS  6i 

"One  wonders  if  they  are  worth  the  courage  that 
they  call  for,  Robert." 

"Oh,  yes,  to  the  individual,  although  perhaps  they 
have  no  national  significance.  Hullo,  what  have 
we  here!" 

Nicholson,  the  butler,  a  responsible-looking  patri- 
arch, had  entered  the  room,  bearing  on  a  salver  a 
small  white  envelope  with  a  black  seal. 

"A  special  messenger,  my  lady,  so  I  thought  I  had 
better  give  it  to  you  personally,  as  Mr.  Draper  is 
not  in." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Lady  Aline.  "Put  it  on  the 
table,  please." 

Nicholson  was  a  little  surprised  by  the  detachment 
of  the  tone.  All  the  same  he  withdrew  with  the  air 
of  a  maker  of  history. 

"In  his  own  hand  too,  by  Jove,"  said  Rockingham, 
taking  a  quizzical  glance  at  the  envelope  as  it  lay  on 
the  table.  "It  is  entirely  on  his  own  initiative, 
whatever  it  is.  Evan  Mauleverer  and  I  found 
occasion  this  morning,  when  the  others  had  left,  to 
warn  him  strongly  against  taking  Mr.  D.  into  his 
counsels.  But  he  had  got  that  fatuous  Archbishop 
coming  to  lunch.  What  a  pity  it  is  he  is  so  impres- 
sionable ! " 

"Oughtn't  a  Sovereign  to  be  impressionable.''" 

"Of  course  he  oughtn't  to  be.  At  his  birth  he 
should  have  just  a  few  definite  and  settled  con- 


62  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

victions  given  to  him,  and  he  should  hang  on  to  them 
like  grim  death.  If  every  little  side  current  of 
opinion  can  turn  him  this  way  and  that,  what  is  he 
going  to  do  when  the  floodgates  are  opened?" 

The  Duke,  for  all  his  mantle  of  cynicism,  was 
plainly  discomposed  by  the  modest-looking  little 
packet  on  the  table. 

"Evan  and  I  were  both  at  particular  pains  to 
warn  him.  Mark  my  words.  Aline,  if  that  husband 
of  yours  once  comes  out  on  top  the  monarchy  will 
not  be  worth  that'^'  And  Rockingham  snapped 
his  fingers. 

"What  can  have  moved  him  to  write  it,  I  wonder?" 

He  shook  a  finger  in  the  direction  of  the  envelope. 
Clearly,  he  was  possessed  by  an  itch  of  curiosity. 

"Are  you  sure  the  writing  is  his?"  asked  Lady 
Aline,  with  her  eyes  fixed  upon  the  letter. 

"Quite.  One  would  know  that  hand  anywhere. 
It  is  the  most  characteristic  thing  about  him.  A 
special  messenger  besides." 

Lady  Aline  kept  her  gaze  pinned  upon  the  letter. 

"What  can  it  mean?"  said  Rockingham,  twisting 
his  moustache  in  his  perplexity.  "But  whatever  it 
may  mean  it  ought  not  to  be. " 

"You  are  quite  clear  upon  that  point,  Robert?" 
said  Lady  Aline,  with  a  strange  look  in  her  eyes. 

"Oh,  quite.  He  oughtn't  to  be  writing  to  any- 
body, least  of  all  to  Mr.  Draper,  at  this  hour  of  the 


THE  CRISIS  63 

day.  It's  most  unconstitutional.  I  expect  it's  that 
confounded  parson. " 

Rockingham  was  a  picture  of  discomposure. 
And  then  suddenly,  without  a  word,  Lady  Aline 
took  the  letter  from  the  table  and  quietly  placed 
it  in  the  fire. 

"Good  God,  Aline,  are  you  mad!" 

Rockingham  gave  a  cry  of  dismay.  Instantly 
he  plunged  his  hand  right  into  the  fire  and  plucked 
out  the  scorched  envelope.  He  burnt  himself  rather 
severely. 

"Aline,"  he  said  with  a  wry  mouth  as  he  wrapped 
his  handkerchief  round  his  hand,  "you  ought  not  to 
have  done  that. " 

Her  eyes  had  a  curious  light;  her  lips  were  set  in  a 
straight  line. 

"It's  not  quite  the  game,  Aline."  The  pain  of 
his  fingers  was  beginning  to  make  him  swear  a 
little. 

"I  am  so  sorry  you  are  hurt,  Robert,"  she  said 
penitently. 

"Oh,  that's  nothing,"  he  said,  valiantly  stifling 
a  groan.     "But  it  was  a  near  thing,  by  Jove!" 

"And  if  it  had  been  destroyed?"  said  the  defiant, 
thin-lipped  mouth. 

"Oh,  no,  my  dear  girl."  He  reproved  her  gently 
as  if  she  were  a  small  but  naughty  child.  "It  isn't 
cricket,  you  know." 


64  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

As  she  stood  looking  at  him  she  made  an  odd 
picture,  half  acute  remorse,  half  impenitence. 

"You  must  please  let  me  put  something  on  your 
fingers,"  she  said,  conquered  finally  by  the  courage 
with  which  he  bore  his  affliction. 

He  smiled  at  her  rather  wryly  through  the  sharp 
pain  that  twisted  his  face. 

"Oh,  that's  nothing  at  all,  my  dear  girl."  He 
held  out  his  rather  mutilated  fingers.  "But  if  you 
are  really  sorry  you  had  better  kiss  them  to  make 
them  better." 


IX 

WHEN  Mr.  Draper  returned  at  four  o'clock  to 
Queen  Anne's  Gate,  almost  the  first  thing 
that  caught  his  eye  was  the  charred  envelope  lying 
on  his  study  table.  He  picked  it  up,  and  as  he  was 
already  acquainted  with  its  contents,  he  examined 
its  exterior  closely  without  breaking  the  seal. 

"It's  abominably  careless!"  he  said,  and  he  rang 
the  bell  rather  tempestuously. 

The  butler  appeared  in  person. 

"  Nicholson, "  said  his  master  sharply,  "  what  is  the 
meaning  of  this  ?  A  most  important  document  partly 
destroyed." 

"I  can  only  say  I  very  much  regret  it,  sir,"  said 
the  butler  with  lowered  gaze. 

"How  did  it  happen.?" 

"I  can't  explain,  sir,  how  it  came  to  happen," 
said  the  butler,  "but  I  accept  full  responsibility  for 
the  occurrence." 

"It  won't  do,  Nicholson,"  said  his  master  sharply. 
"There's  a  mystery  here.     Where  is  Mr.  Renshaw?" 

"He  is  out,  sir.  He  was  not  in  when  the  letter 
arrived,  and  he  knows  nothing  about  it. " 

65 


66  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"To  whom  did  you  give  the  letter  on  its  arrival?" 

Nicholson  answered  without  hesitation. 

"  I  gave  it  to  no  one,  sir.  I  brought  it  straight  in 
here,  and  it  got  partly  destroyed  by  mistake." 

"Where  was  Lady  Aline  when  it  arrived?" 

"At  luncheon,  sir." 

"Why  didn't  you  give  it  to  her?" 

"Yes,  sir  —  I  ought  to  have  done.  I  realize  that. 
I  am  very  sorry  indeed,  sir." 

Mr.  Draper  looked  perplexed.  Obviously  he  was 
a  good  deal  disturbed. 

"I  am  not  tatisfied  with  your  explanation,  Nichol- 
son," he  said.  "I  know  you  to  be  an  invaluable 
servant.  You  have  been  in  the  service  of  three 
prime  ministers.  I  know  you  to  be  a  discreet  and 
responsible  man.  This  letter  was  delivered  to  you, 
I  believe,  by  special  messenger.  Such  gross  negli- 
gence in  a  matter  of  such  grave  importance  is  quite 
unlike  you. " 

The  butler  bowed. 

"I  thank  you,  sir,"  he  said,  "I  hope  I  under- 
stand the  great  responsibility  of  my  position. " 

The  Minister  tapped  the  charred  envelope  with 
his  finger. 

"This  was  not  an  accident,  Nicholson,"  he 
said.  "That  is  the  kind  of  accident  that  doesn't 
happen.     Did  any  one  lunch  with  Lady  Aline?" 

For  the  fraction  of  an  instant  the  butler  hesitated. 


THE  CRISIS  67 

"No  one,  sir." 

"She  lunched  alone?" 

"Yes,  sir  —  alone." 

"Very  well.  That  will  do  for  the  present.  But 
I  am  by  no  means  satisfied.  I  intend  to  probe  this 
matter  to  the  bottom. " 

The  butler  withdrew.  When  he  had  closed  the 
door  of  his  master's  study  he  hesitated  for  a  moment 
like  a  man  in  doubt.  Then  he  made  his  way  upstairs 
to  the  boudoir  of  his  mistress.  She  was  indulging 
in  a  lonely  cup  of  tea  and  a  cigarette. 

"May  I  speak  to  you,  my  lady.''" 

"Certainly,  Nicholson,"  said  his  mistress  amiably. 

"It*s  about  that  letter,  my  lady.  Mr.  Draper  has 
questioned  me  about  it. " 

"Well.''"  said  his  mistress  with  amiable  indiiference. 

"I  thought  I  would  like  you  to  know,  my  lady, 
that  I  have  taken  full  responsibility  for  it.  I  have 
informed  Mr.  Draper  that  it  was  not  delivered  to 
you,  and  I  have  also  informed  him  that  you  lunched 
alone." 

"That  was  rather  indiscreet,  wasn't  it,  Nicholson? 
—  from  your  point  of  view,  I  mean. "  The  tone  of 
Lady  Aline  was  one  of  rather  bored  indifference. 

"I  hope  your  ladyship  approves  of  what  I  have 
done." 

"On  the  contrary,  I  disapprove  of  it  very 
strongly." 


68  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"I  am  exceedingly  sorry,  my  lady." 

The  butler's  face  was  rather  blank. 

"Was  it  necessary  to  lie  about  it,  Nicholson?" 
said  his  mistress.  "Is  it  necessary  to  lie  about 
anything?" 

"I  can  only  say,  my  lady,  that  I  have  been  in 
the  service  of  three  prime  ministers,  I  am  an  old  man, 
and  experience  has  taught  me  that  when  two  evils 
are  presented  to  one  it  is  generally  wise  to  choose 
the  lesser." 

Lady  Aline  was  rather  amused  by  this  statesman- 
like omniscience. 

"In  other  words,"  said  she,  "you  think  it  is  better 
that  you  should  lie  and  that  I  should  lie  rather  than 
state  the  simple  fact  that  a  piece  of  paper  was 
thrown  in  the  fire.  I  am  sorry,  Nicholson,  but  I  am 
afraid  that  kind  of  ethics  is  a  little  too  advanced  for 
me.  I  have  always  been  brought  up  to  believe,  you 
know,  that  it  is  well  for  a  servant  to  keep  his  place. " 

The  butler  bowed  humbly  and  gravely. 

"I  am  sorry,  my  lady,"  he  said,  "that  you  take 
this  view.  Having  regard  to  the  special  circum- 
stances I  thought,  after  careful  consideration,  that 
that  was  the  right  course  to  take.  I  still  venture  to 
think  so,  my  lady,  having  regard  to  the  special 
circumstances.  We  are  making  history  just  at 
present,  my  lady,  if  you  will  excuse  my  freedom  in 
mentioning  it." 


THE  CRISIS  69 

"So  I  believe,"  said  his  mistress,  "but  it  seems 
rather  unwise,  Nicholson,  that  you  should  be  mixed 
up  in  the  process." 

"It  is  not  the  first  time,  my  lady,"  said  Nicholson 
with  the  pride  that  apes  humility,  "that  I  have  tried 
to  do  my  best  for  the  country  in  a  national  crisis. 
But  since  your  ladyship  disapproves  of  my  action, 
I  beg  to  be  allowed  to  give  notice. " 

"Very  well,  Nicholson,"  said  his  mistress,  lighting 
a  fresh  cigarette;  "I  am  inclined  to  think,  in  the 
circumstances,  that  is  the  best  thing  you  can  do. 
Your  notice  had  better  take  effect  a  month  from 
to-day.  And  as  you  have  been  quite  a  good  servant, 
with  whom  I'm  sure  Mr.  Draper  will  be  sorry  to  part, 
I  shall  be  pleased  to  give  you  a  good  character. " 

"Thank  you  very  much,  my  lady,"  said  the  butler, 
who  appeared  to  be  deeply  moved. 

He  made  to  withdraw.  Before  he  could  leave  the 
room,  however,  Mr.  Draper  himself  had  entered. 
In  his  hand  was  the  charred  envelope. 

"Aline,"  said  the  Minister,  speaking  in  a  manner 
more  than  usually  direct,  "this  is  a  mystery  I  am 
anxious  to  clear  up." 

He  showed  his  wife  the  letter. 

"I  am  not  aware,"  said  Lady  Aline,  "that  it  is 
a  mystery  at  all." 

"Nicholson  appears  to  treat  It  as  one." 

"Oh,  yes.     But  that  is  an  error  of  judgment  on  his 


70  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

part.  At  least  that  is  the  view  I  take  of  it,  although 
he  still  seems  rather  unconvinced.  The  whole  thing 
is  really  quite  simple.  Nicholson  delivered  the  letter 
to  me.  I  chose  to  throw  it  in  the  fire,  and  Rocking- 
ham at  the  cost  of  his  fingers  chose  to  pull  it  out. " 

"Rockingham.?" 

"Yes,  he  lunched  here." 

"And  you  threw  it  in  the  fire.'"' 

"Yes,"  said  his  wife  coldly. 

"And  Rockingham  pulled  it  out.?" 

"Yes,  at  the  cost  of  his  fingers.  One  rather 
respects  him  for  it,  I  think." 

For  the  moment  the  Minister  stood  in  silence, 
looking  a  little  unnerved.  Still  holding  the  charred 
envelope  in  his  hand  he  seemed  like  a  man  in  a 
dream. 

The  silence  was  broken  by  the  quiet  and  low  voice 
of  the  butler.     It  vibrated  with  feeling. 

"I  acted  as  I  thought  right,  sir.  I  am  sorry  if 
I  have  not  done  so.  But  I  now  beg  to  be  allowed 
to  give  notice,  sir. " 

The  Minister's  drawn  face  had  turned  very  white. 
At  last,  putting  forth  a  powerful  eflfort  of  the  will,  he 
was  able  to  regain  command  of  himself.  He  placed 
his  hand  on  the  butler's  shoulder. 

"You  were  right,  Nicholson,"  he  said.  "You 
were  quite  right." 

They  went  out  of  the  room  together. 


X 

MR.  DRAPER  and  his  wife  were  engaged  for 
dinner  that  evening  and  they  had  to  go  on  to 
a  party  afterward.  On  the  plea  of  public  business 
the  Minister  asked  to  be  excused.  Lady  Aline  went 
without  him,  and  he  dined  alone. 

The  butler  noticed  that  he  ate  and  drank  very 
little  and  that  he  seemed  even  more  preoccupied 
than  usual.  It  was  clear  that  the  business  of  the 
letter  was  weighing  upon  his  mind.  But  there  were 
other  things  that  were  weighing  upon  it  too. 

A  little  before  nine  o'clock  Nicholson  was  sum- 
moned to  his  master's  study. 

"Suppose  you  consider  yourself  off  duty  for  an 
hour,  Nicholson,"  said  the  Minister.  "Come  and 
smoke  a  pipe  and  let  us  discuss  the  present  dis- 
contents." 

Had  Nicholson  been  a  dull  man  he  would  have 
been  not  unlikely  to  resent  this  unconventional 
behaviour  of  his  master.  A  butler  of  high  caste  has 
his  own  private  code  of  the  ethics  of  his  calling  no 
less  than  a  Minister  of  the  Crown.  Only  a  very 
bold  man  would  have  ventured  to  ignore  the  fact. 

71 


72  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

Each  one  of  Nicholson's  prime  ministers  would  as 
lief  have  flown  to  the  moon  as  invite  him  to  his  study- 
to  smoke  a  pipe  after  dinner  and  discuss  the  politicsl 
situation.  Happily,  Nicholson  was  in  nowise  a 
small-minded  man.  Humbly  and  readily  he  sank 
the  dignity  of  his  calling  in  the  exigencies  of  the 
crisis. 

"Mix  yourself  a  whisky  and  soda,  Nicholson," 
said  his  master,  "and  then  take  that  chair.  You'll 
find  that  one  the  most  comfortable. " 

"Thank  you,  sir." 

With  an  air  which  he  had  unconsciously  copied 
from  his  first  prime  minister,  Nicholson  mixed  a 
fairly  stiff  whisky  and  soda  and  then  seated  himself 
at  a  slightly  pontifical  leisure. 

"I  am  open  to  correction,"  said  his  master,  "but 
I  regard  you  as  a  Centre  man  with  a  rather  pro- 
nounced bias  toward  the  Right." 

Nicholson's  confirmation  of  this  acute  prognosis 
was  both  wary  and  austere.  The  circumstances 
made  it  necessary  that  not  a  fibre  of  the  official 
dignity  ohould  be  relaxed.  At  the  same  time  the 
innate  urbanity  of  the  accomplished  clubman  craved 
for  free  play. 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Nicholson,  achieving  a  blend  of 
deportment  which  seemed  exactly  to  meet  the  case. 
"I  think  you  are  pretty  correct.  Except,  perhaps, 
sir,  that  since  the  Marquis's  time,  as  you  might  say, 


THE  CRISIS  73 

I  really  belong  more  to  the  Right  than  I  do  to  the 
Centre." 

"Yes,  I  ought  to  have  known  that,"  said  Mr. 
Draper.  "At  heart  you  are  the  born  aristocrat. 
It  is  merely  your  professional  instincts  that  bring 
you  anywhere  near  the  Centre  at  all.  You  belong 
to  a  significant  type  —  a  type  which  has  got  a  very 
important  part  to  play  just  now. " 

"  I  hope,  sir,  we  shall  be  able  to  rise  to  our  responsi- 
bilities," said  Nicholson,  filling  his  pipe  after  having 
been  invited  to  do  so. 

"Yes,  that  is  the  all-important  question  for  all 
of  us.  You  see,  Nicholson,  the  classes  that  have  a 
natural  and  instinctive  reverence  for  the  established 
order  of  things  are  now  right  up  against  a  proletariat 
which  is  developing  too  quickly  to  be  healthy. 
A  succession  of  ministries  has  pampered  it  quite 
regardless  of  the  mischief  they  have  been  doing. 
The  proletariat,  as  an  inevitable  consequence,  has 
waxed  insolent  and  become  a  bully.  Don't  you 
rather  agree .'' " 

"Yes,  sir,  I  do.  I  always  tell  them  that  at  our 
little  society  which  meets  every  Thursday  evening, 
of  which  I  have  the  honour  to  be  a  vice-president. 
What  I  say  is,  sir.  Democracy  will  have  to  be  taken 
down  a  peg  unless  the  whole  thing  is  going  to  burst 
up  altogether." 

Mr.  Draper  nodded  his  approval. 


74  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"For  the  last  twenty  years,  sir,"  continued 
Nicholson,  "the  masses,  in  my  opinion,  have  had 
a  great  deal  too  much  given  to  them.  Enlarged 
franchise,  which  lies  at  the  root  of  all  the  mischief, 
free  food,  free  doctoring,  free  insurance,  free  edu- 
cation for  their  children,  pensions  for  their  old  age, 
have  put  them  right  above  themselves,  in  my  opinion. 
It  is  a  case  of  all  masters  and  no  servants  nowadays. " 

"You  would  say  that  they  have  not  been  able  to 
assimilate  all  the  blessings  that  have  been  showered 
upon  them.?" 

"Yes,  sir;  assimilate,  that  is  the  word.  And  the 
more  they  get  the  more  discontented  they  become. 
They  simply  cry  out  for  more  instead  of  learning  to 
make  use  of  what  they  have  already. " 

"I  am  much  interested,  Nicholson,  in  your  point 
of  view,"  said  the  Minister.  "Something  has  cer- 
tainly given  rise  to  a  terribly  difficult  and  extremely 
complex  situation." 

"The  demands  of  Labour,  sir,  are  outrageous  at 
the  present  time,  in  my  opinion. " 

"I  am  inclined  to  agree  with  you,  Nicholson. 
But  unhappily  there  seems  to  be  a  consensus  of 
opinion  in  the  country  that  at  this  stage  Capital 
has  no  alternative  but  to  continue  to  yield  to  them. " 

"Well,  if  it  does,  sir,  there  will  soon  be  no  capital 
left  in  the  country  to  yield  to  anything.  I  know  for 
a   fact,    sir,   that    if    this    Bill    had    gone    through. 


THE  CRISIS  75 

which  you,  sir,  were  wise  enough  to  overthrow  at 
the  eleventh  hour,  the  masters  had  arranged  to  close 
down  all  the  mills  in  Lancashire. " 

"That  is  interesting.  How  did  you  acquire  the 
information?" 

"My  brother,  sir,  is  in  the  service  of  Sir  Samuel 
Cooper  of  Preston.  The  Lancashire  mill-owners 
held  a  meeting  at  his  house  the  other  night." 

"That  is  important.  I  rather  wish  you  had  seen 
fit  to  communicate  your  knowledge  a  little  sooner." 

"  I  didn't  like  to  presume,  sir.  Besides,  sir,  I  felt 
sure  you  would  know  about  it." 

"No;  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  the  first  I  have 
heard  of  it.  It  shows  the  point  we  have  reached,  it 
shows  the  kind  of  political  atmosphere  we  are  living 
in  at  present.  The  group  to  which  the  Lancashire 
mill-owners  belong  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
Coalition  Government.  They  have  boycotted  it 
persistently.  They  prefer  to  keep  their  plans  a 
secret  and  work  in  the  dark.  And  of  course  that 
enormously  increases  the  difficulty  of  the  task  of 
government. " 

"Yes,  sir,  that  I  quite  understand.  In  fact,  sir, 
to  quote  your  great  speech  the  other  night,  to  which 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  listening,  '  a  great  chasm  has 
opened  in  the  economic  life  of  the  nation,  and  has 
left  Capital  on  one  side  and  Labour  on  the  other.' " 

The  Minister  nodded  his  head. 


76  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"  I  shall  never  forget  that  speech,  sir.  No  one  who 
heard  it,  sir,  will  ever  forget  it.  When  I  was  a  young 
man  it  was  my  privilege  to  hear  Mr.  Bright  deliver 
his  ' Angel-of-  death-has-been-abroad-in-the-land ' 
speech  from  that  very  gallery.  Your  speech  on 
Tuesday  night,  sir,  if  you  will  allow  me  to  say  so, 
belonged  to  the  same  class.  Those  who  heard  It,  sir, 
will  never  forget  it  to  their  dying  day. " 

As  Nicholson  spoke  his  voice  grew  lower  and 
lower,  until  his  last  words  were  almost  inaudible. 
With  a  gesture  of  reverence  he  folded  his  hands  in 
front  of  him. 

The  Minister  was  moved. 

"It  is  the  finest  compliment  that  has  ever  been 
paid  to  me,  Nicholson,"  he  said  quite  simply.  "I 
felt  the  occasion  very  deeply.  I  wanted  to  drive  it 
home  to  the  nation. " 

"And  you  did,  sir.  You  turned  over  eighty  votes 
in  the  Centre  and  threw  out  the  Government.  It 
was  a  very  great  performance,  sir,  if  you  will  allow 
me  to  say  so.  I  never  expected  to  hear  the  equal 
of  Mr.  Bright,  sir,  but  I  heard  him  on  Tuesday  night 
—  and  if  you'll  excuse  the  freedom,  sir,  I  think  your 
mind  is  deeper  and  more  practical." 

"You  honestly  think  that,  Nicholson?"  said  the 
Minister,  with  a  simplicity  that  was  almost  boyish. 

"I  do,  sir  —  honestly." 

"You  pay  me  a  very  high  compliment,"  said  the 


THE  CRISIS  Tj 

Minister  naively.  '*  It  is  so  difficult  for  an  emotional 
mind  to  be  also  practical." 

"That  is  so,  sir,"  said  Nicholson,  concurring 
gravely.  "Mr.  Gladstone  and  Mr.  Morgan  and 
Mr.  Collins  were  emotional  men,  and  all  of  them 
fine  orators  —  not  quite  in  your  class,  and  Mr. 
B right's  you  know,  sir  —  but  to  my  mind  they  were 
not  practical  men.  They  could  always  see  the  begin- 
ning, but  they  couldn't  always  see  the  end.  .  .  . 
That,  sir,  if  you  will  excuse  the  freedom,  is  why  I 
admired  you  so  much  last  night.  You  were  looking 
ahead  all  the  time." 

"I  always  try  to  do  that,"  said  the  Minister 
modestly. 

"Mr.  Hendry  and  the  Marquis  always  used  to 
do  it  too,  sir,  although,  of  course,  you  couldn't  call 
either  of  them  orators.  But  that's  how  they  got 
their  power  in  the  country.  They  were  far-seeing, 
practical  men.  They  made  mistakes,  sir,  but  they 
could  see  into  the  future.  And  they  never  allowed 
the  enemy  to  outflank  them,  like  some  other  prime 
ministers  I  could  name.  They  never  gave  back  an 
inch  to  gain  a  temporary  advantage,  when  it  was 
presently  going  to  cost  them  the  whole  position. 
I'm  quoting  your  speech  again,  sir,  begging  your 
pardon.  What  I  say  is,  sir,  it  is  a  merciful  thing 
for  the  country  that  you  were  inspired  to  throw  out 
that  Bill." 


78  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

The  Minister,  engaged  in  his  characteristic  occu- 
pation of  walking  up  and  down  the  room,  paused 
to  search  the  face  of  the  old  butler  with  an  eager 
and  a  glowing  eye. 

"That  is  your  honest  conviction,  Nicholson? 
I  hope  you  don't  say  it  merely  to  give  me  pleasure." 

"No,  sir,"  said,  the  butler  gravely.  "It  is  not 
my  custom  to  speak  to  please  anybody  —  when  it 
comes  to  national  affairs.  They  know  that  at  our 
little  society  which  meets  every  Thursday,  and  that's 
why  they  respect  me.  Please  God,  sir,  I  say  what 
I  mean  and  I  mean  what  I  say,  when  it  comes  to 
national  affairs. " 

"I  am  sure  of  it,  Nicholson,"  said  the  Minister. 
"I  am  honoured  by  your  approval." 

"Thank  you,  sir,"  said  Nicholson  gravely;  "I 
am  glad  to  be  able  to  return  the  compliment.  If 
you'll  pardon  the  freedom,  sir,  there  was  just  one 
man  I  should  like  to  have  been  present  in  the  House 
last  night." 

"Who?" 

"The  King,  sir.  I  said  to  my  friend  Hawksley  — 
butler  to  the  Duke  of  Flamborough,  sir,  and  a  fellow 
vice-president  of  our  little  society,  who  was  sitting 
next  to  me  in  the  gallery  —  I  said  to  my  friend 
Hawksley,  *  It  is  a  great  pity  his  Majesty  is  not  here. 
It  would  be  a  great  help  to  him  in  the  present  crisis.' " 

"And  what  said  your  friend  Hawksley  to  that?" 


THE  CRISIS  79 

"Hawksley,  sir,  agreed  with  me.  And  if  you'll 
excuse  the  freedom,  sir,  it  meant  a  very  great 
deal  for  Hawksley  to  do  that,  because  up  till  then 
he  had  always  considered  you  quite  a  second-rate 
man." 

"You  think  the  speech  ought  to  strengthen  my 
position?" 

"I  do  indeed,  sir.  In  fact  it  has  done  so  already. 
To-morrow  night,  sir,  I  am  going  to  move  a  resolu- 
tion, that  'in  the  opinion  of  this  society  the  Right 
Honourable  James  Draper  should  be  invited  to  form 
a  Ministry.'" 

"What  is  the  name  of  your  society .f*" 

"The  Butlers'  Union,  sir,  of  which  Mr.  Hawksley 
and  I  have  the  honour  to  be  vice-presidents,  and  of 
which  his  Majesty's  senior  butler  is  the  president." 

"Yes,"  said  the  Minister  thoughtfully,  "I  appear 
to  have  made  ground.  But  it  is  rather  surprising, 
Nicholson,  isn't  it,  that  your  society  is  political?" 

"Strictly  non-political,  sir,"  said  Nicholson. 
"That  is  to  say,  we  all  think  alike.  We  all  belong 
to  the  Right,  sir,  as  our  little  society  Is  confined  to 
men  of  the  highest  social  standing.  Why!  would 
you  believe,  sir,  I  nearly  had  to  resign  my  mem- 
bership when  I  entered  your  service  three  years  ago. 
You  belonged  to  the  Left,  then,  sir;  you  were  kind 
of  working  your  way  up.  I  had  to  appear  before  the 
committee,  and  in  spite  of  the  fact,  sir,  that  I  had 


8o  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

been  in  the  service  of  three  prime  ministers,  it  was 
only  Lady  Aline  that  saved  me. " 

"You  appear  to  be  a  very  exclusive  society." 

"Very  exclusive,  indeed!  In  a  manner  of  speak- 
ing, sir,  the  most  exclusive  society  in  London.  Birth 
can  get  in,  as  a  rule.  Ability,  sometimes.  Money 
often  finds  it  difficult.  It's  really  best  to  have  a 
combination;  then  you  are  generally  all  right.  Not 
always,  sir,  of  course;  there  are  exceptions  to  every 
rule.  Only  last  year.  Lord  Harbury's  butler  —  old 
Catholic  family  greatly  respected  in  Ireland  —  was 
blackballed  because  his  master  had  married  an 
actress.  We  carry  it  to  extremes  sometimes,  sir,  I'm 
bound  to  admit,  but  it's  a  fault  on  the  right  side,  to 
my  mind." 

"Well,  Nicholson,"  said  the  Minister,  "I  am  very 
glad  to  have  had  this  talk  with  you.  And  I  hope 
on  Thursday  night  you  will  put  your  resolution,  and, 
moreover,  that  you  will  be  able  to  carry  it. " 

"I  have  no  doubt  I  shall  be  able  to  do  that,  sir," 
said  the  butler,  rising  and  taking  his  leave.  "Ours 
is  a  society  of  sensible  men. " 


XI 

LEFT  alone  the  Minister  selected  Mill's  "Con- 
stitution" from  the  carefully  furnished  shelves 
and  began  to  dip  at  random.  Somehow  the  familiar 
pages  were  unable  to  hold  his  attention  to-night. 
He  was  in  a  condition  of  strange  unrest.  For  once 
he  seemed  unable  to  concentrate  his  thoughts,  so  that 
presently  he  had  recourse  to  that  never-failing 
anodyne  for  fevered  minds,  the  "Meditations  of 
Marcus  Aurelius." 

As  always,  that  masculine  intelligence  was  able 
to  compose  him.  Presently  the  inner  tumult  began 
to  subside.  Deep  answered  unto  deep;  his  soul  went 
out  to  that  of  the  noble  pagan.  An  hour  passed,  and 
then  suddenly,  with  a  great  surge  of  feeling,  he 
reawoke  to  the  exigencies  of  the  present.  He  looked 
up  from  the  page  with  a  sense  of  inward  power. 
His  eyes  fell  upon  the  small  model  in  plaster  in  the 
centre  of  the  chimneypiece. 

"Ask  of  me  my  country,"  he  murmured,  as  if  in 
answer  to  the  austere  gaze  that  seemed  to  meet 
his  own. 

The  thought  was  still  in  his  mind,  the  book  was 

8i 


82  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

still  in  his  hand,  his  eyes  were  still  upon  the  plaster 
cast,  when  the  butler  re-entered  the  room. 

"A  gentleman  wishes  to  see  you,  sir,"  he  said,  "if 
you  can  spare  him  five  minutes." 

The  Minister  struggled  back  to  the  world  of  men 
and  things.     "What  is  his  name?" 

"He  would  not  give  his  name,  sir." 

"Has  he  been  here  before.''" 

"Not  to  my  knowledge,  sir." 

"And  you  don't  know  who  he  is?" 

The  butler  had  begun  to  look  rather  embarrassed. 

"I  don't  exactly  say  that,  sir.  At  least,  that  is  to 
say,  I  may  have  a  strong  suspicion  of  his  identity." 

"  Well,  whom  do  you  take  him  to  be  ? "  The  butler 
grew  more  embarrassed  than  ever. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  sir,  but  I  feel  that  I  wouldn't 
like  to  presume  to  say  who  I  think  he  is,  for  fear  I 
might  be  mistaken. " 

His  master  began  to  grow  rather  impatient.  "It 
is  all  very  mysterious,"  he  said.  "Do  you  suppose 
I  myself  know  this  person?" 

"Oh,  yes,  sir.     I  feel  quite  sure  you  do." 

"What  time  is  it?  A  quarter  to  eleven!  It's  a 
rather  strange  hour.  Still  the  times  are  strange." 
The  Minister  hesitated  before  making  his  decision. 
"Very  well,  bring  him  along  and  I'll  try  to  solve 
the  enigma  of  his  identity. " 

A  moment  later  the  mysterious  visitor  had  been 


THE  CRISIS  83 

ushered  into  the  room.  He  appeared  to  be  about 
fifty,  rather  under  the  middle  height.  There  was  an 
air  of  simple  and  unaffected  modesty  about  him  as 
he  entered,  and  this  effect  was  heightened  by  an 
unpretentious-looking  overcoat  and  an  equally  un- 
pretentious dinner  jacket  and  black  tie  beneath. 

"I  hope  I  am  not  disturbing  you,  my  dear  Mr. 
Draper,"  said  the  visitor,  offering  his  hand  with  a 
quiet  air  of  friendliness  that  was  charming. 

The  Minister  was  clearly  taken  aback.  For  an 
instant  he  betrayed  both  surprise  and  embarrass- 
ment. 

"Why,  sir,"  he  said,  "I  feel  this  to  be  a  very  great 
honour." 

"I  don't  want  you  to  feel  anything  of  the  kind, 
said  the  mysterious  visitor  with  the  same  quiet  but 
charmingly  urbane  air,  which  yet  made  an  effect  of 
perfect  sincerity.  "I  am  very  lucky  to  find  you  at 
home.  I  was  afraid  you  might  have  gone  into  the 
country." 

"Won't  you  take  off  your  overcoat,  sir?"  said 
the  Minister. 

"Thanks." 

The  visitor  removed  his  outer  garment. 

"And  if  you  will  give  me  a  whisky  and  soda  in 

exchange  for  a  cigar  that  I  know  you  won't  smoke 
?» 


The  visitor  produced  a  modest-looking  cigar  case 


84  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

and  offered  It,  while  Mr.  Draper  rang  for  the  other 
requisites. 

By  the  time  the  visitor  was  seated  at  his  ease,  a 
little  out  of  the  light,  the  Minister,  who  was  observ- 
ing him  with  covert  intentness,  was  able  to  see  that 
the  genial  ease  of  his  bearing,  which  in  itself  was  so  ' 
pleasant  as  almost  to  be  captivating,  was  a  cloak  for 
deeper  qualities  beneath.  A  close  scrutiny  of  the 
mysterious  visitor's  face  showed  it  to  be  deeply  lined, 
careworn  and  pale.  There  was  a  fixed  look  of  sadness 
in  the  heavy-lidded  eyes. 

"What  is  your  book,  Mr.  Draper?" 

'"Marcus  Aurelius.'" 

"The  wisest  man  that  ever  lived,  I  sometimes 
think.     He's  been  a  true  friend  to  me." 

The  quiet  voice  was  beautiful  when  feeling  fused  it. 

"And  who  is  that  —  on  the  chimneypiece? 
Oh,  yes." 

A  subtle  smile  hovered  in  the  careworn  eyes. 
Mr.  Draper  smiled  too.  He  rose  from  his  chair 
and  turned  the  face  of  the  Lord  Protector  to  the 
wall. 

"No,  no,"  said  the  visitor,  laughing.  "We  can't 
have  that.  Somebody  has  to  cut  off  the  head  of  a 
king,  now  and  again,  don't  you  know,  pour  encour- 
ager  les  autres. " 

"I  am  very  glad,  sir,  you  are  able  to  view  the 
proceeding  with  such  detachment,"  said  the  Minister. 


THE  CRISIS  85 

"I  am  very  glad,  sir,  to  have  your  permission  to 
put  him  back  again." 

And  laughing  heartily  he  reversed  the  bust  of  the 
Lord  Protector. 

"I  thought  I  would  like  to  have  another  little  chat 
with  you,"  said  the  visitor,  drawing  quietly  at  his 
cigar.  "Our  recent  conversation  has  given  me  a 
clearer  grasp  of  the  position  than  I  have  ever  had 
before.  I  have  discussed  it  lately  with  all  sorts  of 
people.  Upon  nearly  every  point  they  are  widely 
at  variance,  but  upon  two  they  are  absolutely  unani- 
mous in  agreement." 

"And  those,  sir.''"  said  the  Minister,  fixing  his 
sunken  eyes  upon  those  of  his  visitor. 

"And  those,  my  dear  Mr.  Draper,  are  —  first, 
that  the  situation  is  extremely  grave,  and,  second, 
that  you  are  a  very  dangerous  man." 

"I?" 

"Yes  —  they  all  think  that.  I  have  had  most 
solemn  warnings  against  you." 

"I  console  myself,  sir,  with  the  thought  that 
independence  of  mind  is  always  viewed  with  the 
deepest  suspicion. " 

"It  was  a  point  I  urged  myself,  this  afternoon, 
with  the  Archbishop.  But  he  says  the  Right  has 
always  doubted  your  loyalty  to  the  Throne. " 

"Oh,  yes,  sir,  they  have  always  doubted  me," 
said  the  Minister  quietly.     "I  have  been  called  a 


86  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

republican  and  other  hard  names.  They  say  I  aim 
at  the  first  presidency  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. " 

"Do  you  aim,  my  dear  Mr.  Draper,  at  that  high- 
sounding  title  .^"  said  the  visitor  equably. 

Mr.  Draper  took  time  for  his  answer. 

"Yes,  sir,  I  do,"  he  said,  "if  it  is  the  will  of 
God." 


XII 

AND  of  the  English  people?"   said  the  visitor 
after  a  pause. 

"The  will  of  the  English  people  is  the  will  of 
God,  sir." 

The  visitor  quietly  smoked  his  cigar. 

"Yes,  it  is!"  he  said.  "But  first  let  us  clearly 
ascertain  it.  And  how,  pray,  are  we  to  do  it  now 
that  our  electoral  machinery  has  broken  down  so 
lamentably.?" 

"  By  an  appeal  to  arms,  sir — the  old-fashioned  way. " 

"Yes,  in  the  last  resort.  But  always  in  the  last 
resort. " 

"We  are  very  near  it,  sir." 

"Yes,  they  tell  me  so." 

The  visitor's  voice  fell  rather  suddenly. 

"It's  a  grievous  thing,"  he  said.  His  face  looked 
pinched  and  haggard.  "The  mischief  is  continually 
growing. " 

"I  have  confirmation  of  that,  sir,"  said  the 
Minister. 

He  unlocked  a  drawer  in  his  desk  and  took  out 
a  letter. 

87 


88  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Do  you  care  to  read  it,  sir?" 

The  visitor  produced  a  pair  of  eyeglasses. 

"Who  is  John  Cox?"  he  said,  when  he  had  finished 
reading  the  letter. 

"John  Cox,  sir,  is  the  General  Secretary  of  the 
Workers'  League,  which  has  an  affiliated  member- 
ship of  fifteen  million  persons.  It  is  an  organization 
that  ought,  in  my  humble  judgment,  to  have  been 
strangled  at  its  birth.  My  Manchester  speech  of 
March  five  years  ago  advocated  that  course  very 
strongly.  But  I  was  then  a  voice  crying  in  the 
wilderness.  Nobody  heeded  me,  and  that  speech 
nearly  terminated  my  public  career. " 

"Oh,  yes,  Mr.  Draper,  I  remember  the  speech. 
But  you  were  then  regarded,  you  know,  as  a  rival  of 
Galloway.  The  opinion  commonly  held  at  that  time 
was  that  you  were  trying  to  spike  his  guns. " 

The  Minister  smiled. 

"  It  has  always  pleased  a  certain  faction  to  regard 
me  as  the  rival  of  Galloway.  If  I  have  said  or  done 
a  thing,  it  has  generally  been  attributed  to  a  desire 
to  score  a  point  with  the  electorate  at  the  expense 
of  a  man  for  whom  I  have  a  profound  contempt. " 

"That  has  been  rather  the  case,  I  am  afraid. 
One  is  beginning  to  see  the  injustice  of  it  all." 

"I  make  no  complaint,  sir,  as  far  as  I  am  con- 
cerned personally,"  said  the  Minister.  "But  if 
people  who  ought  to  know  better  did  not  allow  an 


THE  CRISIS  89 

unworthy  partisanship  to  override  their  judgment, 
I  sometimes  think  it  would  give  us  all  a  better 
chance." 

"It  was  certainly  very  wrong  not  to  have  heeded 
the  warning, "  said  the  visitor. 

"The  League  has  now  become  a  great  power. 
It  is  a  secret  society  which  practically  controls  the 
electorate.  At  the  present  moment  the  ruler  of 
England  is  George  John  Galloway. " 

"That  is  your  deliberate  opinion,  Mr.  Draper.?" 

"I  give  it,  sir,  for  what  it  is  worth.  But  there 
are  two  hundred  seats  on  the  Left  which  are  the 
nominees  of  the  League.  The  question  now  at  issue 
is  whether  any  legislation  is  to  be  possible  without 
its  mandate." 

"  I  have  been  given  to  understand  that  Galloway  is 
a  very  dangerous  man." 

"  In  my  judgment,  sir,  he  is  a  menace  to  society. 
He  has  a  genius  for  organization;  moreover,  he  in- 
spires and  controls  a  foul  Press  which  has  carefully 
studied  the  art  of  appealing  to  uneducated  minds." 

"Would  you  say  that  this  man  is  actively  dis- 
loyal.?' 

"I  go  further,  sir.  In  my  opinion  he  is  an  enemy 
of  society." 

"You  are  a  man  of  strong  views,  Mr.  Draper." 

"I  hope,  sir,  I  am.  One  can  do  nothing  in  this 
world  without  them.     When   I  see  a  man  of  this 


90  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

stamp  inflaming  the  passions  of  the  ignorant  it  is 
more  than  I  can  endure.  If  I  were  the  King  of 
England " 

"Yes,  Mr.  Draper,  if  you  were  the  King  of 
England.'"'  said  the  visitor  in  his  tranquil  voice, 
cutting  off  the  end  of  his  second  cigar. 

"I  should  not  rest  easy  in  my  bed,  sir,  until  I 
had  scotched  George  John  Galloway. " 

"Is  there  any  constitutional  process  by  which 
it  could  be  done.?" 

"It  would  be  very  interesting  to  see,  sir." 

"Could  we  impeach  him  for  sedition?" 

"At  any  rate,  sir,  it  would  be  interesting  to  have 
the  opinion  of  the  Attorney-general. " 

The  visitor  put  on  his  eyeglasses  and  read  the 
letter  again. 

"I  quite  agree,"  he  said,  "but  it  seems  to  me  that 
this  is  hardly  the  time  to  take  such  a  decisive  step, 
even  if  we  were  advised  that  it  could  be  taken. 
The  situation  is  most  critical. " 

"The  more  critical  the  situation,  sir,  the  greater 
the  need  for  decisive  action.  We  have  had  far  too 
much  of  this  balancing  of  one  force  against  another 
force;  we  have  had  far  too  much  of  this  parleying 
with  the  enemy  in  the  gate.  We  have  merely  moved 
on  from  crisis  to  crisis;  we  have  merely  postponed 
the  day  of  reckoning;  and  all  the  time  the  situation 
has  got  more  and  more  out  of  hand,  and  men  like 


THE  CRISIS  91 

Galloway  have  been  able  to  turn  it  to  their  own 
profit." 

The  visitor  nodded  his  head  in  acquiescence. 

"Yes,  Mr.  Draper,"  he  said,  almost  in  the  manner 
of  one  thinking  aloud.  "You  certainly  hold  strong 
views." 

The  Minister  bowed  deferentially. 

"  I  merely  give  them,  sir,  for  what  they  are  worth. " 

The  visitor  pondered;  and  then  he  smiled  his 
rather  forlorn  smile. 

"I  wish,  Mr.  Draper,"  he  said,  "you  were  not 
such  a  dangerous  man.  Everybody  walks,  you  know, 
in  fear  of  a  reformed  democrat.  Now  assuming 
that  we  proceed  to  extremities  against  this  man 
Galloway,  what,  in  your  opinion,  would  be  the 
consequences  .i* " 

"It  would  be  the  throwing  down  of  the  gage  of 
battle.  The  King's  enemies,  if  they  were  strong 
enough,  would  show  themselves  and  come  out  into 
the  open." 

"Yes  — and  then?" 

"I  would  strain  the  law  to  its  limits  and  I  would 
strain  the  constitution  to  its  limits  to  crush  them  out 
of  existence." 

"And  the  country  might  be  bathed  in  blood  from 
end  to  end ! " 

"Well,  sir,  it  seems  to  me  that  that  is  the  path  of 
statesmanship,  wherever  it  may  lead.     We  are  sub- 


92  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

ject  to  an  unbridled  and  ever-increasing  tyranny. 
There  is  no  tyranny  like  that  of  selfish  ignorance. 
Democracy  is  going  too  fast.  It  is  time,  sir,  in  my 
judgment,  that  somebody  started  in  to  hold  it 
back." 

"But  if  it  can  only  be  done  by  machine  guns.?" 

"So  much  the  worse,  sir,  for  democracy." 

The  visitor's  laugh  was  rather  melancholy. 

"You  are  putting  back  the  clock,  aren't  you,  my 
dear  Mr.  Draper?"  he  said  in  his  musical  voice. 
"Richelieu  talked  in  that  way  to  Louis XIII  in  the 
days  of  his  particular  League." 

"I  expect  he  did,  sir.  And,  in  any  case,  it  seems 
to  me  that  we  shall  have  to  go  back  in  order  to 
go  forward. " 

"Yes,  I  am  afraid  you  are  a  highly  dangerous  man, 
Mr.  Draper,"  said  his  visitor  with  a  sigh  as  he 
measured  himself  a  second  whisky  and  soda.  "And, 
in  any  case,  I  know  nothing  more  trying  than  to  be 
without  a  Government.  By  the  way,  there  is  a 
meeting  of  the  Privy  Council  to-morrow  morning  at 
eleven.     Will  you  be  able  to  be  present?" 

The  Minister  did  not  answer  immediately.  "I 
am  out  of  sympathy,  sir,  with  much  of  their  recent 
procedure,"  he  said  at  length. 

"But  must  we  not  proceed  under  constitutional 
forms  as  far  as  we  can?" 

"Yes,  sir,  as  far  as  we  can.     But  in  a  crisis  of  this 


THE  CRISIS  93 

magnitude  it  seems  safer  to  act  first  and  then  refer 
to  the  constitution  afterward." 

"Perhaps  there  is  something  to  be  said  for  that 
view.  In  the  meantime  we  must  form  a  Govern- 
ment of  some  kind. " 

"I  suppose,  sir,  the  task  will  devolve  upon  Evan 
Mauleverer.?" 

"He  is  the  man,  certainly,  of  the  widest  political 
experience.  He  at  least  has  a  solid  body  of  conserva- 
tive opinion  behind  him.  Personally,  I  hope  he  will 
yield  to  pressure  and  take  office.  At  the  present 
moment  he  seems  the  only  possible  alternative. 
But  whether  he  is  a  strong  enough  man  to  hold 
things  together  under  present  conditions,  that,  of 
course,  is  a  question  that  we  must  leave  time  to 
answer. " 

"Time  has  answered  it  already,  sir.  Evan 
Mauleverer  has  accepted  office  on  two  occasions; 
and  on  each  he  has  contrived  to  bring  us  sensibly 
nearer  to  the  Deluge. " 

"Well,  my  dear  Mr.  Draper,  can  you  suggest 
any  one  else.?"  said  the  visitor,  knocking  the  ash 
off  his  cigar. 

The  Minister  stroked  the  aggressive  jaw  which 
had  made  him  so  many  enemies. 

"In  the  present  crisis,  sir,"  he  said  after  a  pause, 
"Galloway  himself  would  be  less  dangerous  than 
Evan  Mauleverer.     This  is  not  the  hour  for  dilet- 


94  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

tantism.  Evan  Mauleverer  is  very  well  here  in 
London  and  the  home  counties.  But  the  North  has 
absolutely  no  use  for  him.  And  when  all  is  said,  sir, 
it  is  the  North  that  is  the  driving  power  of  England 
to-day." 

"Yes,  I  think  we  are  all  agreed  upon  that. 
Evan  Mauleverer  is  himself  aware  of  it.  That  is 
why  he  hesitates.  The  ground  of  his  objection  is 
that  to  govern  England  to-day  a  man  must  have  the 
North  behind  him.  And  he  frankly  admits  that  he 
hasn't  that." 

"Then,  sir,  let  him  make  way  for  a  man  who  has. " 

"But  where,  my  dear  Mr.  Draper,  is  the  man  to 
be  found?"  The  visitor  took  a  long  draw  at  his 
cigar. 

The  Minister  was  silent. 

A  long  and  rather  tense  pause  ensued. 

The  visitor  peered  intently  into  the  stern  face  of 
the  Minister.     Presently  he  rose  from  his  chair. 

"Mr.  Draper,"  he  said  at  last,  very  slowly  and 
reluctantly,  "do  you  know  what  is  said?  Un- 
derstand, I  yield  to  the  pressure  of  these  great  exi- 
gencies." 

Mr.  Draper  drew  himself  up  proudly  and  a  little 
haughtily. 

"It  is  not  true,  sir,"  he  said  in  a  voice  of  such 
tense  emotion  that  it  was  hardly  recognizable  as  his 
own.     "I    know   what    they    are    saying.     I    have 


THE  CRISIS  95 

never  heard  it,  sir,  from  the  lips  of  anybody,  but 
I  feel  it  here."  With  a  gesture  of  pain  the  Minister 
placed  his  hand  across  his  heart. 

Under  the  stress  of  his  own  deep  emotion  the 
visitor  also  showed  signs  of  discomposure. 

"One  is  glad  to  have  such  an  assurance,  Mr. 
Draper,"  he  said.  "Although  I  would  not  have 
you  misunderstand  me.  I  have  always  held  myself 
that  it  is  an  act  of  impertinence  to  pry  into  the 
private  life  of  a  public  man.  But  this  is  a  peculiar 
country.  As  you  are  aware,  the  contrary  view  is 
freely  held.  I  feel  it  only  right  to  inform  you  that 
the  story  is  told  against  you  with  great  circumstance 
and  it  is  very  widely  circulated.  The  greatest 
pressure  is  being  brought  to  bear  against  you  from 
every  possible  quarter.  I  accept  your  word  gladly 
and  unreservedly,  my  dear  Mr.  Draper;  I  shall 
lose  no  time  in  informing  the  Archbishop;  but 
in  these  grave  circumstances  it  is  desperately 
unfortunate  that  the  story  has  been  circulated  at 
all." 

The  Minister  remained  silent.  His  face  was  not 
very  pleasant  to  look  upon. 

"It's  a  blackguardly  trick,"  he  said  at  last,  "to 
strike  at  a  man  through  a  woman  —  and  such  a 
woman.  I'll  admit,  sir,  I've  been  indiscreet.  I 
was  born  with  a  contempt  for  public  opinion.  I  see 
now  that  I  have  been  wrong,  that  I  have  made  a 


96  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

serious  error  of  judgment  in  giving  that  kind  of 
handle  to  my  enemies.  They  have  used  it  very 
skilfully.  But,  by  God,  sir"  —  the  Minister  brought 
his  hand  down  with  a  crash  upon  his  writing-table 
—  "I'll  beat  them  yet!" 

"Yes,  Mr.  Draper,  I  am  inclined  to  think  you 
will, "  said  the  visitor  with  courteous  kindness.  "  But 
having  regard  to  all  the  forces  that  are  marshalled 
against  you,  I  am  sadly  afraid  that  the  time  is  not 
yet.     Unless " 

"Unless,  sir.''"  said  the  Minister  with  a  kind  of 
sunken  eagerness. 

"Unless  we  get  so  deeply  in  the  mire  that  we  are 
obliged  to  call  you  in  to  help  us  out. " 

The  Minister  could  not  repress  a  rather  forlorn 
smile  at  this  display  of  candour. 

"I  see,  sir,"  he  said  in  a  hollow  tone. 

"Would  you  hesitate  to  do  it,  Mr.  Draper  —  if 
the  circumstances  arose  .^" 

"One  never  quite  knows  what  one  would  do,  sir, 
in  a  given  case,  until  the  case  presents  itself.  I  love 
my  country,  but  this  is  the  kind  of  thing  to  make  a 
man  have  doubts  whether  his  country  is  worthy  of 
his  love. " 

"Perhaps  I  ought  not  to  have  mentioned  it. " 

"I  am  sincerely  grateful  that  you  did,  sir.  My 
instincts  told  me  it  was  there  all  the  time.  I  have 
heard    whispers;    I've    seen    eyebrows    raised    and 


THE  CRISIS  97 

shoulders   shrugged.     But  I   didn't   realize   that  it 
had  gone  so  far  as  this. " 

The  voice  of  the  Minister  died  suddenly  in  his 
throat.  In  his  agitation  he  began  to  pace  the  room. 
It  was  clear  to  his  visitor  that  he  was  rather  badly 
hit. 


XIII 

THE  Minister  was  still  engaged  in  walking  up 
and  down  the  room  in  an  effort  to  cope  with 
a  stress  of  mind  which  he  made  no  attempt  to  dis- 
guise when  the  butler  entered. 

He  gave  his  master  a  somewhat  grimy-looking 
card. 

Mr.  Draper  glanced  at  it,  and  then  after  a  mo- 
ment's hesitation  handed  it  to  his  visitor.  On 
the  card  was  printed  the  following: 

Joseph  Briggs 

President  of  the  Engine  Drivers'  Association 
14  Pym  Street,  Derby 

"Yes,  why  not.^"'  said  the  visitor  in  response  to 
the  Minister's  look  of  inquiry. 

"I  will  see  him,  Nicholson,"  said  Mr.  Draper. 

The  President  of  the  Engine  Drivers'  Association 
proved  to  be  a  burly  specimen  of  British  manhood. 
He  was  large  and  hearty  and  not  overclean;  his 
voice  was  like  a  megaphone  and  his  gait  had  a 
nautical  roll. 

"Pleased  to  meet  you,  sir,"  said  Joseph  Briggs, 
jshaking  hands  warmly  with  the  Minister.     "I've 

98 


THE  CRISIS  99 

been  wanting  to  give  myself  the  pleasure  a  long 
time." 

"I  am  very  glad  to  make  your  acquaintance,, 
Mr.  Briggs,"  said  the  Minister,  shaking  hands 
cordially.     "  What  can  I  do  for  you  ? " 

"Well,  sir,  it's  a  rather  ticklish  matter."  Briggs 
cast  a  glance  in  the  direction  of  the  visitor,  who  still 
remained  seated  somewhat  in  the  shadow. 

"You  can  speak  quite  freely  before  my  friend," 
said  the  Minister. 

"Well,  sir,  I'm  sadly  afraid  there  is  black  mischief 
brewing  at  Derby." 

"So  I  understand,"  said  the  Minister.  "The 
Home  Office,  I  believe,  has  information  to  that 
effect." 

"Well,  sir,  my  mates  and  I  think  if  you  would 
come  to  Derby  and  address  a  meeting  as  soon  as 
possible  you  might  do  a  power  of  good.  You've  got 
a  big  influence  at  Derby,  sir,  among  all  grades. " 

"I  am  very  glad  to  enjoy  the  confidence  of  Derby." 

"It's  no  idle  compliment,  sir;  at  Derby  we  know 
a  man's  worth.  We  remember  your  speech  last 
year,  sir,  on  the  eve  of  the  election.  You've  a  good 
backing  at  Derby,  sir,  but  unfortunately  these 
young  fellows  have  got  out  of  hand." 

"Yes,  Mr.  Briggs,  so  I  believe,"  said  the  Minister. 
"And  how  do  you  account  for  their  being  out  of 
hand.?" 


loo  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Things  is  made  too  easy  for  'em  nowadays,  sir. 
They  want  to  get  on  too  fast.  I  put  it  down  to  free 
education  and  free  libraries  partly.  Instead  of 
being  satisfied  with  a  can  of  ale  and  a  pipe  of  'bacca 
they  go  and  overread  themselves  on  socialism  and 
the  Galloway  press.  The  consequence  is,  sir,  they 
get  right  above  themselves.  They  are  all  wanting 
to  be  masters  nowadays." 

"Can  you  suggest  any  remedy  for  this  state  of 
things.^"  the  visitor  interposed. 

"  In  the  first  place,  sir,  we  want  a  strong  Govern- 
ment who  won't  stand  nonsense  from  anybody. 
My  own  opinion  is,  sir,  we  want  a  Government  that 
will  put  Galloway  in  gaol. " 

"You  think  he  is  a  menace  to  the  country?" 
the  visitor  quietly  interposed. 

"There  is  no  doubt  about  that,  sir.  He's  put 
all  the  locomotive  shops  and  the  porters  and  the 
plate-layers  right  above  themselves.  They  talk  of 
their  grievances.  What  are  their  grievances  f  They 
ought  to  have  joined  the  company  forty  years  ago 
and  then  they  might  have  had  some  grievances  to 
talk  about.  No,  sir,  things  are  too  easy  for  'em 
nowadays.  We  hadn't  the  time  in  those  days  to 
trouble  about  this  syndicalism,  as  they  call  it,  and 
that  sort  of  nonsense. " 

"You  would  say,  Mr.  Briggs,  the  state  of  things 
is  very  serious?"  said  the  Minister. 


THE  CRISIS  loi 

"That  is  my  opinion,  sir." 

"And  you  think  I  might  do  some  good  at  Derby ?"^ 

"I  am  convinced  of  it,  sir.  At  Derby  we  older 
men  believe  in  you,  and  we  should  very  much  like 
to  see  you  Prime  Minister.  What  we  say  is,  that 
if  the  King  is  a  sensible  gentleman  he'll  put  you  in 
the  place  of  Mr.  Grundy  without  delay." 

"Tell  me,  Mr.  Briggs, "  said  the  visitor,  "do  you 
consider  the  King  to  be  a  sensible  gentleman.''" 

"Very,  sir,  I  should  say.  At  least  that  was  the 
impression  I  formed  of  him  when  I  had  the  honour 
of  meeting  him. " 

"When  did  you  meet  him?" 

"It  would  be  the  best  part  of  ten  years  ago  noWy 
sir.     He  gave  me  this. " 

The  President  of  the  Engine  Drivers'  Association 
indicated  a  small  gold  medal  that  was  suspended 
from  his  watch  chain. 

"Oh,  yes,  I  remember,"  said  the  visitor,  keeping 
well  in  the  shadow.  "There  was  an  accident;  an 
express  was  derailed  and  you  saved  the  lives  of  three 
of  the  passengers  at  great  personal  risk.  You  were 
severely  scalded,  Mr.  Briggs,  in  rendering  assistance, 
were  you  not?" 

"Yes,  sir.  I  was  in  the  hospital  the  best  part  of 
a  year  after  it,  but  the  company  behaved  very 
handsome  and  I'm  promoted  now  to  a  higher  grade. 
These  young  chaps  often  abuse  the  King  and  say  he 


I02  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

is  no  use  at  all,  and  he  costs  the  country  a  great  deal 
too  much,  and  so  on,  but  when  he  shook  hands  with 
me  and  pinned  this  medal  on  to  my  coat,  and  said, 
*You  are  a  very  brave  man,  Mr.  Briggs,  and  I'm 
proud  to  make  your  acquaintance,'  I  didn't  think  he 
was  no  good,  I'll  give  you  my  word. " 

"Is  it  that  the  younger  men  think  the  King  ought 
to  take  a  more  active  part  in  public  affairs?"  said  the 
visitor.  "Or  is  it  that  they  think  he  is  a  luxury  who 
is  rather  too  expensive?" 

"  I  don't  think  they  know  what  they  do  think,  sir, 
if  you  ask  my  opinion.  But  they  are  so  full  of  book 
learning,  sir,  nowadays,  that  they  must  always  be 
growling  at  something. " 

*'It  is  very  mischievous  for  the  country  all  the 
same,"  said  the  Minister. 

"Of  course  it  is,  sir.  And  that's  why  we  want  a 
strong  Government  that  won't  give  in  to  them. 
But  the  situation  is  very  serious,  sir.  They  are  all 
ready  to  come  out  as  soon  as  the  League  gives  the 
signal;  and  I  also  hear  that  the  miners,  the  dockers, 
the  postmen,  and  the  police  are  only  waiting  for  the 
signal. " 

"In  other  words,"  said  the  Minister,  "we  stand 
upon  the  verge  of  civil  war. " 

"Yes,  sir,  I  am  afraid  that  is  so." 

"Well,  Mr.  Briggs,  if  I  come  to  Derby  and  address  a 
meeting,  what  is  it  going  to  profit  the  country  now?  " 


THE  CRISIS  103 

"It  will  strengthen  the  hands  of  us  Centre  men^ 
who  are  doing  all  we  can  to  hold  the  hotheads 
back  a  bit. " 

"I  see!" 

"  Suppose  you  promise  to  go,  my  dear  Mr.  Draper," 
said  the  visitor.  "Derby  seems  to  need  you  rather 
badly." 

The  Minister  pondered. 

"Yes,  sir,"  he  said  at  length,  "I  will  go  to  Derby 
if  it  is  your  wish.  You  would  like  me  to  come 
soon?"  he  said  to  Briggs. 

"Yes,  sir,  the  sooner  you  come  the  better  for 
everybody." 

"Very  well.  I  will  address  a  meeting  this  day 
week. " 

"Thank  you  very  much,  sir,"  said  Briggs.  "You 
will  help  Derby  and  you  will  help  England  too." 

As  Briggs  was  about  to  withdraw  he  took  a  very 
shrewd  look  at  the  third  person  in  the  room. 

"We  have  met  before,  sir,"  he  said. 

"Yes,  Mr.  Briggs,"  said  the  visitor,  rising  and 
offering  his  hand  cordially,  "and  I  am  proud  to 
meet  you  again.  You  are  a  very  brave  man  and 
I  rejoice  that  you  have  the  welfare  of  your  country 
at  heart.  But  I  want  you  to  forget  that  you  have 
met  me  here.  A  King,  you  know,  is  not  allowed  to 
have  any  politics." 

"I   can't   do   that,    sir,"   said   Briggs.     "I    shall 


I04  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

never  be  able  to  forget  having  met  such  a  good  and 
true  gentleman.  But  I  shall  not  speak  of  it,  sir,  to 
anybody,  I'll  promise  you  that. " 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Briggs.  You  will  be  rendering 
both  Mr.  Draper  and  myself  a  service." 

"I'm  sure  I'm  very  proud,  sir.  But  I'd  just  like 
to  say  one  thing,  if  you  don't  think  I'm  taking  too 
much  on  myself. " 

"Pray  speak  without  reserve,  Mr.  Briggs.  Mr. 
Draper,  I  feel  sure,  will  treat  your  opinion  with  the 
highest  respect. " 

"Thank  you  very  much,  sir.  What  I  would  like 
to  say  is  this:  Mr.  Grundy  and  Mr.  Mauleverer 
are  good  men  no  doubt,  but  this  is  the  man  the 
country  wants  and  it  won't  be  happy  till  it  gets  him." 

The  brawny  hand  of  the  President  of  the  Engine 
Drivers'  Association  descended  somewhat  heavily 
upon  the  shoulder  of  the  Minister.  And  then  with 
a  robust,  "Good  evening,  gentlemen,"  Joseph  Briggs 
affected  a  rolling  exit  from  the  room. 

Monarch  and  Minister  were  left  not  a  little  amused. 
It  was  the  latter,  however,  who  spoke  first. 

"When  people  say  to  me,  sir,"  he  said,  "that 
there  is  no  good  manhood  left  in  the  country  I  think 
at  once  of  the  number  of  Joseph  Briggs  it  contains. 
One  is  always  meeting  them.  And  they  are  not 
confined,  sir,  to  any  particular  class. " 

"Yes,  my  dear  Mr.  Draper,  there  is  still  good 


THE  CRISIS  los 

manhood  left  in  the  country.  And,  as  you  say,  it  is 
to  be  found  in  all  ranks  of  life.  What  we  want  at 
this  moment  is  some  co-ordinating  power  which  will 
close  up  its  ranks,  which  will  weld  it  with  some 
common  purpose  into  a  common  bond. " 

"That  is  the  country's  need,  sir. "  The  Minister's 
deep  voice  had  a  throb  of  enthusiasm.  "It  is 
calling  for  a  man  it  can  follow.  It  is  calling  for  a 
man  who  can  rally  all  the  Joseph  Briggs  in  the  land. " 

A  deep  sadness  came  upon  the  worn  face  of  the 
visitor. 

"How  I  wish,  my  dear  Mr.  Draper,"  he  said, 
"such  powerful  and  irreconcilable  forces  had  not 
been  raised  against  you!" 

The  Minister  laughed  rather  bitterly. 

"It  is  a  dreadfully  unfortunate  business  for  the 
country  at  a  time  like  this,"  said  the  visitor  with  a 
look  of  pain.  "But  may  I  venture  to  hope  you 
will  see  your  way  to  attend  this  momentous  meeting 
of  the  Privy  Council  to-morrow  morning  at  eleven 
o'clock?" 

The  Minister's  face  grew  tense. 

"May  I  exercise  my  own  discretion,  sir?"  he  said 
after  a  pause  that  was  somewhat  trying. 

"By  all  means.  I  would  make  no  suggestion  to 
the  contrary.  But  I  am  sure  there  are  those  who 
will  value  your  presence. " 

"Thank  you,   sir,"  said  the  Minister,  who  was 


io6  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

touched  by  the  tone.  "But  I  feel  that  my  presence 
there  to-morrow  will  merely  serve  to  embarrass 
discourse.  This  intrigue  is  bound  to  go  on.  Noth- 
ing can  stop  it  now.     It  will  have  to  run  its  course. " 

"Yes,  one  quite  feels  that.  But  if  you  could  see 
your  way  to  attend  I  should  contrive  to  let  it  be 
known  that  you  were  present  at  my  desire.  More- 
over, I  shall  do  all  in  my  power  to  arrest  this  calumny. 
But  there  are  unscrupulous  tongues  at  work.  It  has 
gone  very  far.  Still  one  is  bound  to  realize,  and  I 
shall  hope  indirectly  to  make  others  realize,  that 
this  intrigue  is  most  perilous  to  the  country." 

The  Minister  stood  in  silence,  his  head  upthrown. 

"Thank  you,  sir,"  he  said   at  last. 

The  visitor  offered  his  hand  very  simply.  The 
Minister  took  it  gratefully. 

"You  will  go  to  Derby?" 

"Yes,  sir,  I  will  —  at  your  desire.  And  I  will  go 
on  to  Leeds  and  Newcastle,  and  the  North.  It  shall 
be  my  aim  to  keep  things  going  until  a  decision  of 
some  kind  has  been  arrived  at. " 

"  If  you  do  that,  my  dear  Mr.  Draper,  you  will  lay 
your  country  under  a  very  deep  obligation.  And 
in  the  meantime  I  will  have  a  talk  with  the  Arch- 
bishop, and  I  will  also  see  Rockingham. " 

"Rockingham.?" 

"Yes;  he  is  a  man  of  the  world.  Also,  he  is  very 
able,  and  of  course  a  man  of  the  highest  probity." 


THE  CRISIS  107 

The  Minister  smiled  darkly.  There  was  a  kind 
of  innocence  for  which  his  visitor  was  famous. 

"In  fact,  my  dear  Mr.  Draper  —  I  tell  you  this 
in  confidence  —  there  is  a  growing  disposition  in  some 
quarters  to  persuade  Rockingham  to  take  office  in 
the  last  resort. " 

"  Is  he  likely  to  attempt  the  task,  sir.**" 

"He  might,  but  unfortunately  he  is  devoid  of  all 
personal  initiative. 

Again  the  Minister  smiled  his  dark  smile. 


XIV 

WHY  aren't  you  at  the  Privy  Council?"  asked 
Evelyn  Rockingham. 

She  had  met  Mr.  Draper  by  chance  in  Piccadilly, 
while  she  was  giving  her  toy  pomeranians  an  air- 
ing. It  was  the  morning  of  the  third  day  of  the 
crisis. 

"  I'm  not  wanted  there, "  said  the  Minister  bluntly. 

"You  oughtn't  to  say  that,"  said  Evelyn,  rebuk- 
ing him  with  a  grave  smile. 

"Oughtn't  one.?"  said  the  Minister,  with  ill- 
assumed  indifference.  "Perhaps  you  don't  know 
the  line  they  are  taking." 

Evelyn  Rockingham  knew  perfectly  well  the  line 
they  were  taking,  but  she  was  far  too  expert  in  her 
own  particular  genre  to  betray  her  knowledge. 

"They?"  she  said  innocently. 

"Yes  —  the  whole  pharisaical  crowd  of  them." 

"A  sweeping  generalization,  my  friend." 

"They  are  trying  to  hound  me  out  of  public  life 
by  the  usual  Chadband  methods,  as  they  did  Hor- 
rocks  and  Bulstrode,  and  Graham,  and  a  dozen  other 


io8 


THE  CRISIS  109 

The  face  of  Evelyn  Rockingham  had  become 
suddenly  suffused  with  interest. 

"And  She  —  who  is  She?     Do  tell  me." 

She  placed  a  hand  charmingly  imperious  and 
daintily  gloved  on  the  sleeve  of  Mr.  Draper's 
overcoat. 

"You  can't  guess!  No,  of  course  you  can't. 
Why  should  you  —  of  all  people!  It's  all  so  con- 
temptible. " 

"Don't  keep  me  on  the  rack  any  longer,"  she 
said  piteously. 

She  turned  aside  suddenly  to  hide  the  laughter 
in  her  eyes. 

"You  are  She,"  said  the  Minister  quietly. 

The  large  and  expressive  mouth  had  grown  very 
mobile,  but  not  a  word  escaped  her. 

"Well,  what  do  you  think  of  it.?"  said  the  Min- 
ister. 

"What  do  I  think  of  it?" 

"Yes,  what  do  you  think  of  it?" 

"Why,  I  think"  —  somehow  her  tone  seemed  to 
change  with  the  oddest  abruptness  —  "I  think  it  is 
the  cleverest,  the  most  dangerous  card  they  could 
have  played." 

"I  admire  you,  my  dear  Evelyn,  for  being  able  to 
look  at  the  thing  like  that,"  said  the  Minister  with 
that  curious  simplicity  which  baffled  friends  and 
enemies  alike.     "I  admire  your  splendid  superiority 


no  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

to  the  personal  equation.  I  wish  I  could  look  at  it 
in  that  way.  To  me  it  is  the  damnable  ruse  of  a  cur 
and  a  coward.  I  would  that  I  knew  who  had  put 
it  about. " 

"What  would  you  do,  my  dear  James.'"' 

"I  would  punish  him.  I  would  punish  him  even 
if  it  were  that  self-righteous  parson-pedagogue  him- 
self." 

"  I  am  afraid  it  is  somebody  much  deeper  than  he. 
It  is  somebody  who  knows  the  ropes  perfectly;  some- 
body who  has  spent  his  life  in  pulling  the  strings  at 
the  psychological  moment." 

"Evelyn,"  said  the  Minister  hoarsely,  "you  had 
better  not  tell  me.    My  God,  I'm  capable  of  murder. " 

Evelyn  Rockingham  in  all  essentials  was  a  finished 
woman  of  the  world,  but  this  volcanic  outburst 
made  her  profoundly  uncomfortable.  She  was  bold 
and  quite  fearless,  but  she  had  far  too  much  intelli- 
gence to  toy  with  these  elemental  forces. 

"My  dear  James,"  she  said,  "I  don't  know. 
And  if  I  knew,  I  couldn't  tell  you. " 

"You  would  have  to  tell  me  —  if  you  knew. " 

"Well  — perhaps." 

The  answer  was  soft  and  charmingly  given;  the 
tone  was  almost  careless,  but  there  was  a  challenge 
in  every  line  of  the  fine  personality. 

Mr.  Draper  read  the  challenge.  With  a  rather 
awkward  laugh  he  took  it  up. 


THE  CRISIS  III 

"Yes,  Evelyn,  if  you  knew  I'd  have  it  out  of  you. " 

"But  I  don't,  you  see,"  she  said  quickly. 

"No,  of  course.     And  I'm  glad. " 

She  noted  that  it  never  occurred  to  him  to 
doubt  her. 

"It's  lucky  for  everybody.  In  the  meantime,  on 
the  strength  of  this  despicable  calumny,  they  are 
going  to  put  me  out  of  public  life.  And,  my  God, 
I'm  inclined  to  let  them. " 

The  duchess  gathered  her  little  dogs  to  her  arms 
to  prevent  them  impeding  the  passers-by. 

"My  dear  James,"  she  said,  "aren't  you  taking 
it  all  a  little  too  seriously?" 

"How  can  you  say  that!" 

His  stern  surprise  caused  her  to  avert  her  face 
quickly.  She  almost  wanted  to  laugh  in  spite  of 
the  chill  that  was  in  her  veins. 

"I'm  not  such  an  egotistical  ass  as  to  think  that 
I  matter  particularly,  when  I  know  I'm  innocent. 
But  when  they  drag  a  woman  I  reverence  through 
the  mud  in  order  to  collect  some  for  me,  they  are 
up  against  a  pretty  tough  proposition  in  James 
Draper. 

"Yes,  I  see."  She  no  longer  found  it  difficult  not 
to  laugh  at  his  seriousness.  "That's  very  chivalrous. 
That's  the  side  that  hadn't  occurred  to  me." 

"Naturally.     And  that's  very  chivalrous  of  you." 

"So  that's  a  'wash-out,'  my  dear  James."     She 


112  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

forced  a  laugh  now.  "And  it  simply  amounts  to 
this,  that  we  are  a  pair  of  extraordinarily  chivalrous 
people." 

However,  he  was  in  no  mood  to  suffer  a  diversion. 

"It  doesn't  matter  what  we  are,"  he  said.  "But 
if  they  can't  carry  on  this  unpleasant  game  of 
politics  like  gentlemen  I've  a  great  mind  to  make 
an  end  at  once." 

"No,  not  now,"  she  said.  "You  can't  do  it  now. 
There's  the  country  to  consider;  you  can't  leave 
that  in  the  lurch. " 

"No,  of  course  one  can't  do  that  —  not  if  they 
have  still  a  use  for  me.  But  they  mayn't  have,  you 
know,  now  this  card's  been  played. " 

Her  laugh  was  a  little  contemptuous.  "Before 
very  long  they  are  going  bitterly  to  repent  that 
they've  ever  played  it.     Look  there!" 

"Where.?" 

"Across  the  road!" 

A  long  procession,  composed  in  the  main  of 
unemployables  and  the  humbler  grades  of  wage- 
earners,  carrying  banners,  was  walking  slowly  along 
the  street.  Emblazoned  on  the  banners  in  the  too- 
familiar  yellow  of  the  Galloway  Press  was  on  one 
side  the  legend,  "Refer  It  to  the  People,"  and  on  the 
other  side,  "What's  a  Referendum  For.?" 

"I'd  soon  put  a  stop  to  that  if  I  could  rule,"  said 
the  Minister  with  a  face  of  scorn. 


THE  CRISIS  113 

"What,  you  reactionary,  you  would  interfere 
with  the  free-born  English  citizen's  right  of  public 
demonstration!  Have  you  forgotten  the  Burgess 
Bill  already?  Have  you  forgotten  the  blood  your 
public-spirited  countrymen  shed  over  it?" 

"Yes  —  to  tell  the  truth,  I  had  forgotten  that 
monumental  blunder," 

"By  no  means  a  blunder  from  their  point  of  view. 
They  never  struck  a  shrewder  blow  for  the  cause 
of  anarchy. " 

"  You  are  quite  right.  And  if  they  referred  it  to  the 
people,  George  John  Galloway  would  be  elected 
Prime  Minister  by  a  three  to  one  majority." 

"Well,  the  sands  are  running  out  in  the  glass. 
If  they  don't  get  to  know  their  own  minds 
pretty  soon  they  will  be  obliged  to  refer  it  to  the 
people, " 

"You  are  quite  right,"  said  the  Minister.  "And, 
after  all,  it  is  our  time-honoured  Saxon  way.  But 
somehow  that  spectacle  makes  my  gorge  rise. 
Upon  my  soul,  I'd  like  to  put  a  charge  of  grapeshot 
into  that  procession!" 

"A  true  democrat!"  laughed  his  companion. 
"A  true  friend  of  the  people!  Do  you  forget  that 
your  name  would  be  an  easy  second  in  the  People's 
Referendum?" 

"Don't  remind  me  of  it.  There  they  go,  holding 
up  the  traffic  at  every  point!     And  marshalled  by 


114  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

mounted  police!  And  if  that  obscene  thing  in  the 
middle  doesn't  bear  the  effigy  of  Galloway!" 

"The  people's  champion,  my  friend,  the  noblest 
Roman  of  them  all. " 

"Oh,  it  turns  me  sick,"  said  the  Minister. 
"Come  on,  let  us  walk  in  the  opposite  direction." 


XV 

So  they  walked,  but  not  many  yards  before 
their  attention  was  arrested  by  a  further 
affront  to  the  established  order,  of  which  they  felt 
themselves  to  be  a  part.  The  eye  of  the  Minister 
was  caught  by  a  newsbill  displayed  at  the  corner  of 
Piccadilly  Circus.  Its  legend  was  large,  black 
and  ominous. 

THE  CRISIS 

SERIOUS  RIOTING  IN  MANCHESTER 

GRAVE  SITUATION 

Mr.  Draper  drew  the  attention  of  his  companion 
to  the  news. 

"In  Manchester,  too!"  was  her  comment;  "the 
home  of  culture  —  moral,  artistic,  and  sociological. " 

Mr.  Draper  hoped  the  comment  was  not  ironical. 

"As  though  one  could  be  ironical  at  the  expense  of 
anything  that  takes  itself  so  seriously!"  she  said. 

"Manchester  is  the  touchstone  of  the  country, 
they  always  say,"  said  the  Minister,  whose  tone 
echoed  none  of  his  companion's  lightness. 

He  bought  a  newspaper. 

"S 


ii6  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"They've  started  to  burn  warehouses.  It's 
shameful.  My  God!"  he  said  grimly,  "if  they  burn 
warehouses  at  Manchester  to-day,  we  shall  be  seeing 
those  tumbrils  along  Piccadilly  to-morrow." 

"And  if  we  do,"  said  his  companion  with  glowing 
eyes,  "it  must  all  be  laid  to  the  door  of  a  mean 
intrigue.  If  the  country  is  drenched  in  blood  from 
end  to  end  it  is  the  price  she  will  have  to  pay  for 
St.  JohnBecher." 

"Oh,  him!"  the  Minister  snorted.  "It's  the 
other  canting  hypocrite  who  carries  most  of  the 
weight  in  that  crew.  Still,  'canting  hypocrite'  is 
not  very  just  perhaps,"  he  added,  striving  for  a 
justness  he  so  often  found  hard  to  attain.  "I  dare 
say  they  are  all  sincere  enough,  according  to  their 
lights.  It  is  part  of  a  bad  old  tr?dition,  handed 
down  from  the  bad  old  Victorian  epoch,  and,  like  all 
bad  old  things,  it  dies  very  hard." 

By  this  time  they  had  strayed  round  the  corner 
into  Regent  Street. 

"Come  on  to  lunch,"  said  Evelyn  Rockingham. 

"There's  no  particular  reason  why  I  shouldn't," 
said  Mr.  Draper  after  a  little  reflection.  "That 
is,  unless  you  are  expecting  a  lot  of  people.  Some- 
how I  don't  feel  in  the  mood  to  face  a  crowd. " 

"There  will  be  just  ourselves  and  one  other." 

"Who  is  the  other?" 

"Ha!"     She  grew  arch  as  well  as  cryptic. 


THE  CRISIS  117 

"You  must  play  fair.  It  might  be  Stephen 
Cantuar  or  St.  John  Becher. " 

"Oh,  it's  somebody  much  more  interesting  than 
either." 

"  It  might  be  Galloway  himself. " 

The  duchess  laughed. 

"It's  a  very  good  shot,"  she  admitted. 

Mr.  Draper  was  completely  lost  for  a  moment 
in  the  heavy  mantle  of  reflection  which  so  often 
enveloped  him. 

"Well,  what  do  you  say.^"'  she  asked  at  last. 

"He  is  the  most  important  man  in  the  country 
just  now."  Mr.  Draper  chose  each  word  as  though 
it  was  a  thing  of  value.  "But  I  hardly  see  on  what 
grounds  I  can  meet  him,  or  on  what  grounds  he  can 
meet  me  at  present." 

^^  HeUl  have  no  scruples.  Besides,  ought  one  to 
torment  one's  self  with  the  fine  shades  at  such  a  time 
as  this?" 

Mr.  Draper  continued  to  ponder. 

"I  think  you  are  right,"  he  said  finally.  "The 
needs  of  the  hour  should  stand  first.  I  believe  the 
man  to  be  an  enemy  of  the  country.  To  my  mind 
he  would  look  remarkably  well  on  a  convenient 
lamp-post.  But  there  is  no  mistaking  the  grip  he's 
got  on  things  —  on  the  masses.  Yes,  I'll  meet  him 
—  that  is,  if  you  feel  inclined,  my  dear  Evelyn,  to 
risk  a  breach  of  the  peace. " 


ii8  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Oh,  yes,  I'll  risk  it,"  said  Evelyn  Rockingham, 
"  like  the  true  patriot  I  am.  It  is  quite  a  happy  idea. 
If  you  are  able  to  control  your  feelings,  no  harm 
can  be  done  by  your  meeting,  and  good  may  come 
of  it." 

"Fm  afraid  that's  impossible.  What  is  there 
to  hope  from  such  a  knave  .^  Frankly,  Evelyn,  at 
no  other  time  would  I  have  consented  to  meet  him 
socially. " 

"Why,  in  your  own  way,  you  are  as  bad  as  the 
Archbishop  and  St.  John  Becher.  It  is  exactly  the 
same  thing,  except  that  it  presents  itself  at  a  slightly 
different  angle.     James,  I'm  ashamed  of  you." 

"Yes,"  said  the  Minister,  "perhaps  I'm  rather 
ashamed  of  myself." 

They  walked  slowly  up  the  street,  lost  in  talk 
and  heeding  none.  Their  portraits  and  their  plat- 
form appearance  were  familiar  to  the  larger  half  of 
England.  From  among  the  morning  crowd  of  the 
congested  thoroughfare  full  many  a  glance  was 
levelled  at  them.  But  profoundly  unconscious  of 
the  attention  they  excited  they  kept  steadily  upon 
their  course.  An  undercurrent  of  excitement  seemed 
to  flow  all  about  them;  the  very  atmosphere  seemed 
to  thrill  with  a  kind  of  tense  expectancy.  Sullen 
eyes  and  mischievous,  brooding  faces  were  on  every 
side;  there  was  an  electricity  generated  by  their 
progress  which  could   be  felt.     But  so  completely 


THE  CRISIS  119 

were  they  engrossed  in  talk  that  they  might  have 
been  alone. 

Presently  they  sauntered  along  a  by-street,  crossed 
Bond  Street  and  found  themselves  before  the  cheer- 
less and  ugly  portals  of  Rockingham  House  at  five 
minutes  past  one. 

Mr.  Galloway,  who  had  been  invited  for  one 
o'clock,  had  arrived  already.  His  greeting  of  his 
hostess  was  confident  and  effusive;  it  was  that  of  a 
man  almost  aggressively  at  home  in  his  rarefied 
surroundings. 

Mr.  Galloway's  reception  of  Mr.  Draper  was 
equally  confident  but  not  so  cordial.  He  offered 
his  hand  to  the  Minister  with  an  air  that  was  merely 
ill-bred,  although  a  sensitive  person  might  have  seen 
a  calculated  rudeness  in  it.  It  was  as  if  he  would 
say,  "Oh,  yes,  I  know  all  about  you.  I  know  where 
you  started  from.     You  mustn't  try  to  impress  me. " 

Women  are  apt  to  notice  these  little  nuances  if 
they  are  in  possession  of  the  clou  of  the  comedy. 
The  duchess  watched  them  with  a  sincere,  if  artfully 
dissembled,  feminine  enjoyment.  The  meeting  of 
two  such  doughty  champions,  strangely  alike  in  the 
external  aspect  of  their  careers,  would  well  repay 
a  little  feminine  observation. 

They  were  neither  of  them  "gentlemen"  in  the 
purview  of  the  beholder.  But  one  of  them  at  least 
implied  so  much  more  than  falls  within  the  scope  of 


I20  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

that  rather  narrow  conventional  term.  In  describ- 
ing them  to  a  person  of  her  own  caste  she  would  have 
said  that  "neither  of  them  had  an  aitch  in  his 
composition,"  a  rough  and  ready  description  which 
had  the  merit  of  being  glaringly  inaccurate  yet  at 
the  same  time  hitting  off  what  she  wished  to  convey. 
Indeed,  both  men  used  the  King's  English  in  quite 
an  educated  way.  But  both  of  them  were  so  obvi- 
ously men  of  the  people;  and  in  this  spacious  inte- 
rior, "all  white  marble  and  precedence,"  redolent 
of  gold  plate  and  powdered  menials,  the  fact  was 
declared  in  the  one  case  with  a  sharpness  that  was 
almost  cruel,  and  in  the  other,  if  by  no  means  so 
obvious,  in  the  eyes  of  Caste  was  always  there. 

Comparing  the  two,  however,  as  the  feminine 
observer  did  so  relentlessly,  the  one  rose  immeas- 
urably superior  to  the  other.  Galloway  jarred 
every  fibre  of  her  aristocratic  composition.  He  had 
not  been  two  minutes  in  her  presence  before  she 
would  have  loved  dearly  to  have  had  him  flung  out 
of  doors,  his  subtle  Cockney  impertinence  was  so 
insufferable.  He  gave  himself  airs,  he  peered  into 
her  face,  all  that  he  said  —  mordant  good  sense 
expressed  in  banal  terms  —  was  pitched  in  entirely 
the  wrong  key.  The  agitator,  journalist,  and  pub- 
licist was  a  cad  to  the  marrow,  and  he  had  the  subtle 
power  of  making  a  woman  feel  it  in  her  bones. 

Draper,  on  the  other  hand,  made  a  very  different 


THE  CRISIS  121 

showing.  He  had  started  life  at  a  far  humbler  level 
than  Galloway.  Up  till  the  age  of  thirteen  he  had 
been  a  "half-timer"  at  a  board  school.  He  had 
begun  life  as  an  errand  boy,  and  had  acquired  culture 
at  a  free  library,  so  that  presently  he  was  able  to 
"better  himself"  by  becoming  a  shop  assistant. 
That  additional  measure  of  refinement  had  brought 
further  opportunities  in  its  train.  He  had  gone  up 
the  social  ladder  step  by  step,  adjusting  himself 
automatically  to  his  surroundings  as  he  went.  If  he 
could  never  be  "a  gentleman,"  as  Evelyn  Rocking- 
ham understood  the  term,  in  all  its  mystic  complexity, 
her  clear,  practical  intelligence  allowed  her  to  see 
that  his  genius  lifted  him  to  a  plane  which  rendered 
such  distinctions  idle  and  frivolous. 

Draper  had  none  of  the  superficial  faults  of 
Galloway.  Nature  had  cast  him  in  a  noble  mould. 
Moreover,  he  had  "manners  of  the  heart,"  and  they 
showed  almost  beautifully  in  comparison  with  the  ar- 
rogance and  the  assumption  of  the  minor  public  school 
and  university  product  who  gave  him  of  his  patronage. 

"Well,  Draper,  how  are  you  these  days .''  We  don't 
see  quite  so  much  of  each  other  now." 

The  Minister  accepted  the  almost  disdainfully 
offered  hand  with  a  reluctance  that  he  did  not  try 
to  conceal. 

"No,  we  haven't  seen  much  of  each  other  lately?" 
he  said,  speaking  easily  and  lightly. 


122  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Well,  I'm  very  glad  anyhow  to  meet  you  again," 
said  Mr.  Galloway.  "In  fact,  IVe  rather  been 
wanting  to  see  you." 

At  this  point  her  Grace  was  informed  that 
luncheon  awaited  them. 

They  had  the  table  to  themselves. 

"Have  you  been  with  the  Privy  Council  this 
morning?"  said  Mr.  Galloway.  "It's  still  sitting, 
I  suppose?" 

"Yes,  it  is  still  sitting  I  believe,  but  I've  not 
been  there. " 

"It's  a  shocking  tangle,  eh?  Really,  myself,  I 
can  only  see  one  way  out. " 

"What  way  is  that?"  asked  Evelyn  Rockingham, 
since  the  Minister  did  not  seem  inclined  to  put  the 
question. 

"They'll  have  to  send  for  me." 

"For  what  purpose,  Mr.  Galloway?"  asked 
Mr.  Draper. 

"To  be  P.  M.,"  said  that  gentleman,  exploding 
in  a  loud  laugh  which  startled  the  butler  and  his 
satellites  considerably. 

"No,  Mr.  Galloway,  I  don't  think  they  will  do 
that,"  said  Evelyn  Rockingham  with  nicely  calcu- 
lated frankness. 

"Well,  I  shouldn't  be  surprised,"  said  he.  "Who 
else  is  there?" 

"Evan  Mauleverer.'* 


THE  CRISIS  123 

"He  daren't  take  office.  And  if  he  did,  the 
country  wouldn't  stand  him  a  fortnight. " 

"How  do  you  know  that.'*"  inquired  Evelyn 
blandly. 

"I  know  everything.  Conscription  settled  Maul- 
everer's  hash." 

"But  your  loathsome  paper  —  the  Daily  Argus 
—  set  them  on  to  it,  surely.'"' 

"Oh,  yes,  we  did,"  said  Mr.  Galloway  calmly, 
"until  we  saw  which  way  the  cat  was  going  to  jump 
and  then  we  ratted." 

"As  you  always  do,  of  course?" 

"Yes,  of  course.  It's  no  use  swimming  against 
the  tide.  You  can't  become  a  power  in  the  news- 
paper world  on  those  lines,  can  you  Draper.'*" 

"I'm  afraid  I'm  without  knowledge  of  the  sub- 
ject," said  Mr.  Draper  dryly. 

"Why,  you  were  on  the  staff  of  the  Daily  Argus 
at  one  time. " 

"Never  on  the  staff,  Mr.  Galloway,"  said  the 
Minister  with  careful  politeness.  "I  wrote  a  series 
of  articles  for  you  on  the  Labour  question  shortly 
after  I  entered  Parliament." 

"It's  nothing  to  be  ashamed  of  anyhow.  We've 
the  picked  brains  of  the  country  on  the  Daily  Argus, 
and  we  pay  top  prices  for  them. " 

"I  was  certainly  well  paid." 

"Well,    leaving    out    Evan    Mauleverer,"    said 


124  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

Evelyn  Rockingham,  "and  leaving  out  you,  Mr. 
Galloway,  because  between  ourselves  I  really  don't 
think  the  premiership  is  your  line  of  country,  it 
seems  to  become  clearer  every  day  that  they  will  be 
bound  to  ask  one  man  in  the  end.  *' 

"Shafto?" 

"No,  he's  too  weak.  Besides,  he  hasn't  the 
ability." 

"Pollen?" 

"A  brilliant  lawyer,  but  he's  never  really  made 
a  mark  in  the  House. " 

"Well,  there's  no  one  else  except  myself." 

"Yes,  there  is  one  other." 

"Tell  me  his  name." 

"He  is  sitting  opposite  to  you." 

"By  Jove,  Duchess,  that's  an  idea." 

Mr.  Galloway  exploded  again. 

"It's  odd  that  Draper,  here,  hadn't  occurred  to 
me.     The  very  man!" 

The  eyes  of  Mr.  Galloway  shone  with  a  sudden 
radiance.  The  fact  that  the  suggestion  presented 
itself  to  him  in  the  light  of  an  inspiration  was  a 
sufficient  refutation,  if  any  were  needed,  of  his  vaunt 
that  he  knew  everything.  The  people  who  knew 
everything  politically  were  only  too  familiar  with 
the  name  of  the  dark  horse.  Such  an  exhibition  of 
naivete  considerably  lowered  Mr.  Galloway's  reputa- 
tion for  omniscience  in  the  eyes  of  his  hostess. 


THE  CRISIS  125 

"Why,  yes,"  he  said,  "the  very  man!  Draper, 
I've  a  great  mind  to  run  you  for  the  premiership." 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Galloway,"  said  Mr.  Draper 
in  his  dry  voice. 

"By  Jove,  Duchess,  youVe  given  me  an  idea. 
I've  half  a  mind  to  run  Draper  for  the  premiership. " 

"You  had  better  make  it  a  whole  one,  Mr.  Gallo- 
way," said  his  hostess. 

"Yes,  why  not!  We  must  see  if  we  can't  strike 
a  bargain." 

"A  bargain,  Mr.  Galloway?" 

"Yes,  certainly.  The  Left  will  want  to  dictate 
the  terms  if  they  run  him. " 

"I  can  make  no  bargain  with  anybody,  let  me  say 
that  at  once,"  said  Mr.  Draper  with  unstatesmanlike 
candour,  and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  his  hostess 
went  to  the  length  of  frowning  at  him. 

"Don't  be  a  fool,  Draper,"  said  Mr.  Galloway 
with  the  directness  of  speech  which  in  certain 
quarters  conferred  a  reputation  upon  him  of  consum- 
mate ability.  "This  is  going  to  be  the  chance  of 
your  life.  The  Right  won't  touch  you  with  a  barge- 
pole, you  know  that.  The  Centre  is  frightened  to 
death  of  you,  so  if  you  are  not  too  big  a  man  socially 
nowadays"  —  Mr.  Galloway's  sneering  laugh  was 
not  pleasant  —  "to  take  up  with  your  old  friends, 
you  had  better  come  to  us  and  see  what  we  can  do 
for  you.     Don't  you  think  so,  Duchess.^" 


126  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"I  think  the  idea  is  worth  consideration,"  said  she. 

The  idea  certainly  had  the  merit  of  stirring  Mr. 
Galloway's  acute  brain  into  action.  As  his  habit 
was,  he  began  to  think  aloud,  independent  of  time 
or  place. 

"Of  course  the  Conciliation  Bill  is  the  crux  of  the 
whole  matter.  If  you  will  promise  to  reintroduce 
it  immediately  there  should  be  no  reason,  as  far  as 
I  can  see  at  the  moment,  why  the  Left  shouldn't 
forgive  your  indiscretions." 

"Reintroduce  the  Bill  as  it  stands.?"  Evelyn  asked. 

"Substantially  as  it  stands.  It  would  have  to 
remain  essentially  the  same,  although  with  the 
dangerous  places  nicely  glossed  over. " 

"Including  Clause  Nine.'*" 

"Yes,  decidedly.  What's  the  use  of  the  Bill 
without  Clause  Nine.'*" 

"But  he  threw  out  the  Government  on  Clause 
Nine." 

"Yes,  he  did.  And  if  he  puts  himself  in  on  it  it 
will  be  a  master  stroke. " 

Mr.  Galloway  laughed  loudly  and  heartily. 

"By  Jove,"  he  said,  "it's  a  brilliant  idea." 

"But  what  about  his  principles,  Mr.  Galloway?" 

"He'll  have  to  swallow  'em,  of  course.  There 
never  was  a  man  yet  who  grasped  at  power  who 
hadn't  to  swallow  his  principles.  Of  course,  he 
must  swallow  'em  as  delicately  as  possible.     The 


THE  CRISIS  127 

G.  P.  will  help  him  there.  A  man  can  do  most 
things  if  he's  got  us  at  the  back  of  him. " 

"Except  remain  honest,"  said  Mr.  Draper  without 
acrimony. 

"That's  taken  for  granted,  of  course,"  said  Mr. 
Galloway  with  the  air  of  one  rebuking  a  rather 
flagrant  provincialism.  "What  use  have  politicians 
and  journalists  for  honesty.''  You  might  as  well 
bring  up  a  Thomas  cat  on  the  Ten  Commandments. '' 

"Port  wine,  sir.''"  said  the  butler. 

"Please!"  said  Mr.  Galloway. 

"Mr.  Galloway,"  said  Evelyn  Rockingham,  "you 
have  a  Machiavellian  subtlety. " 

"Oh,  no.  Duchess,  that's  mere  common  sense. 
If  you  were  in  politics  or  journalism  for  your  health 
it  would  be  a  different  matter.  They  are  dirty 
games,  both  of  'em  —  I  don't  know  which  is  the 
dirtier.  Of  course,  the  thing  is  to  make  your  pile 
as  soon  as  you  can  and  quit,  unless,  that  is,  you  are 
cursed  like  I  am  with  a  love  of  power  and  then  you 


remam. 
it 


I  see, "  said  his  hostess,  a  little  aghast.  She  had 
rubbed  shoulders  with  most  of  the  types  which  had 
floated  to  the  surface  of  her  world.  None  realized 
more  fully  than  she  that  it  took  all  sorts  of  people 
to  make  it.  But  this  was  the  first  time  she  had 
enjoyed  the  privilege  of  coming  to  close  quarters 
with  this  particular  ingredient. 


128  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"I  know  what  you  think,  Duchess,"  he  said. 
"You  think  I've  got  a  mind  like  a  sewer.  So  I  have. 
And  so  must  any  man  have  who  knows  his  way  about 
Fleet  Street  as  I  do.  Politics  and  journalism  are 
two  of  the  meanest  games  going,  and  any  man  who 
lives  by  both  of  'em,  like  Draper  and  myself,  and 
pretends  they  are  not,  is  a  humbug,  and  that's  all 
about  it. " 

The  hostess  made  a  tactful  remark.  Under  cover 
of  it  Mr.  Draper  was  able  to  keep  a  hold  upon  his 
self-control,  which  was  in  jeopardy.  His  stern, 
deeply  marked  face  had  grown  tawny.  But  he  was 
content  to  answer  in  a  tone  of  conversational  light- 
ness, and  honourably  maintained  his  share  of  the  talk 
upon  the  same  note. 

"I  like  the  scheme,"  said  Mr.  Galloway.  "All 
the  morning  journals  shall  sing  together  —  provided, 
that  is,  we  can  arrange  the  terms.  Pledge  yourself, 
my  dear  Draper,  to  a  Conciliation  Bill  with  the 
present  Clause  Nine  retained  in  spirit  if  not  in  form, 
and  then  see  what  the  G.  P.  can  do  for  you." 

"Why  do  you  insist  on  Clause  Nine.'"'  said 
Evelyn  Rockingham. 

"It's  the  keystone  of  the  arch.  It's  the  ace  of 
trumps." 

"It  secures  the  supremacy  of  Labour  for  the  next 
hundred  years,"  said  Mr.  Draper  gravely. 

"Exactly." 


THE  CRISIS  129 

"The  trap  was  very  skilfully  baited,"  said  the 
Minister. 

"Yes,  the  silly  fools  in  the  Centre  couldn't  see 
what  was  behind  it,"  said  Mr.  Galloway,  "until  you, 
my  dear  Draper,  pointed  it  out.  By  the  way,  why 
did  you  point  it  out?     But  I  know,  of  course. " 

"Why  did  I  point  it  out?"  the  Minister  asked, 
reining  himself  in  very  tight. 

"It  was  the  cleverest  move  you've  ever  made,  my 
dear  Draper.  I  always  knew  in  the  old  days  that 
you  had  a  pretty  good  head,  but  I  didn't  think  it 
was  quite  equal  to  that.  You  had  merely  to  get 
rid  of  Grundy  to  open  the  door  to  yourself.  And 
you've  managed  to  do  it,  by  God!" 

"Suppose  one  doesn't  choose  to  enter  the  door 
now  that  it  is  open?" 

"That  would  be  merely  Quixotic.  Wouldn't  it. 
Duchess?" 

The  hostess  appeared  not  to  hear  the  question. 

"Yes,  of  course,  it  would.  But  you  will  have  to 
play  the  game,  my  dear  Draper.  Give  us  a  private 
assent  to  Clause  Nine,  not  necessarily  for  publication, 
and  we  will  blazon  your  name  forth  to  the  country. " 

"You  control  the  Left,  Mr.  Galloway,"  said  the 
duchess.  "But  what  of  the  Centre,  which  is  com- 
posed in  the  main  of  respectable  people  ?  They  hold 
the  balance,  and  your  papers  have  not  much  weight 
with  them,  I  believe." 


I30  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"True,"  said  Mr.  Galloway,  "but  he's  got  his 
own  following  there.  His  speech  in  the  House  the 
other  night  has  increased  it  enormously.  That's 
where  he  is  beginning  to  count. " 

"And  you  can  control  the  Left.'"' 

"I  think  I  am  entitled  to  say  that  I  can  control 
it  absolutely. " 

The  Minister  looked  the  publicist  straight  in  the 
eyes. 

"Mr.  Galloway,"  he  said,  "I  make  terms  with 
none.  If  it  is  the  clearly  expressed  wish  of  the 
King's  advisers  that  I  should  undertake  the  task  of 
forming  a  Government  it  will  be  my  duty  to  give 
the  matter  earnest  consideration.  But  not  other- 
wise. I  don't  court  office  for  the  love  of  office. 
In  fact,  in  these  days,  a  wise  man  would  prefer  to  be 
without  it  in  any  circumstances.  Still,  the  impera- 
tive duty  must  devolve  upon  somebody.  If  by  any 
mischance  it  should  devolve  upon  me,  I  pray  God 
that  it  be  given  to  me  to  prove  worthy  of  my  trust. " 

The  expressive  countenance  of  the  person  to  whom 
this  speech  was  addressed  connoted  an  odd  mingling 
of  amusement  and  disgust.  His  respect  for  the 
manes  of  good-breeding  prevented  his  saying 
"Pecksniff"  in  a  voice  louder  than  could  reach  the 
receptive  ear  of  his  neighbour.  But  his  manner 
was  less  discreet. 

"You  are  taking  a  rather  high  tone  aren't,  you, 


THE  CRISIS  131 

Draper?"  he  said.  What  his  tone  implied  was, 
"Is  it  really  necessary,  my  dear  fellow,  to  play  out 
this  comedy  between  old  friends?  What's  the  use  of 
trying  to  humbug  a  confrere  who  has  watched  every 
phase  of  your  rise  from  very  humble  beginnings? 
It  is  hopeless,  my  friend,  to  attempt  to  deceive  a 
man  as  acute  as  I  am." 

"I  hope  I  am  taking  a  high  tone,  Mr.  Galloway," 
said  the  Minister  quite  simply.  "The  subject  at 
least  should  demand  it. " 

"But,  my  dear  Draper,  you  are  quite  Gladstonian. 
Nay,  more  than  Gladstonian.  The  Old  Man,  even 
in  his  heyday  —  but  I  beg  your  pardon.  Forgive 
my  levity." 

Mr.  Galloway  did  not  actually  wink  at  his  hostess, 
but  he  came  perilously  near  to  doing  so.  Mr.  Draper 
withstood  all  this  with  unruffled  patience.  "  I  hope 
I  am  sincere  in  desiring  to  serve  the  true  interests 
of  the  country,"  was  all  he  said. 

Before  framing  his  reply,  Mr.  Galloway  looked 
steadily  at  Evelyn  Rockingham,  but  received  no 
answering  look  in  return.  This  non-success,  how- 
ever, did  not  defeat  him. 

"Oh,  yes.  Draper,"  he  said  a  little  impatiently, 
"we  none  of  us  doubt  your  sincerity,  but  isn't  the 
form  of  it  just  a  leetle  out  of  date.  Queen  Victoria's 
dead.  Suppose,  for  a  moment,  we  drop  the  high 
moral    tone    altogether.     Let    us    have    a    homely, 


132  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

heart-to-heart  talk.  You've  a  chance  of  being 
Prime  Minister  of  England  —  an  extraordinarily 
good  chance,  it  seems  to  me.  And  I,  George  John 
Galloway,  am  prepared  to  go  'nap'  on  you  if  you 
will  give  me  some  assurance  that  you  are  prepared 
to  play  the  game." 

"Mr.  Galloway,"  said  the  Minister  with  a  gravity 
that  incensed  his  hearer,  "I  can  enter  into  no  com- 
pact with  any  representative  of  a  political  section  or 
party  organization." 

"Oh,  but  that's  nonsense." 

"  It  may  be,  in  the  present  phase  of  opinion,  but 
I  make  so  bold  as  to  think  that  we  are  about  to  see 
a  change.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  country  is 
thoroughly  tired  of  the  party  game." 

"We  are  always  hearing  of  that  sort  of  thing," 
said  Mr.  Galloway,  suppressing  a  yawn,  "but  the 
party  game  goes  on  just  the  same." 

"At  any  rate  we  are  in  the  midst  of  a  serious  crisis 
now,"  said  Evelyn  Rockingham.  "And  the  ablest 
man  in  the  country  is  needed." 

"Yes,  it's  pretty  serious,"  said  Mr.  Galloway. 
"A  shocking  muddle  in  fact.  There  is  a  wonderful 
opportunity  for  an  able  and  ambitious  man.  If 
Draper  goes  the  right  way  to  work  he  ought  to  play 
a  very  big  part. " 

"And  you  think  the  right  way  is  to  promise  the 
Left  that  he  will  reintroduce  the  Bill.^" 


THE  CRISIS  133 

"I  do,  undoubtedly.  I  can  answer  for  the  Left 
if  he  will  give  a  guarantee.  They  are  well  drilled 
and  will  go  solid.  And  in  the  Centre,  if  my  infor- 
mation is  correct,  and  it  is  as  a  rule,  he  has  now  a 
big  enough  following  of  his  own  to  turn  the  scale. " 

"You  may  be  right,  Mr.  Galloway,  or  you  may 
not  be  right,"  said  Mr.  Draper  bluntly,  "but  in  any 
circumstances  I  cannot  listen  to  the  proposal. " 

"Then  you  are  throwing  away  an  opportunity 
that  can  never  occur  again,"  said  Mr.  Galloway, 
with  an  air  of  finality. 

In  accordance  with  his  scheme  of  life,  which 
consisted  in  parcelling  out  every  moment  for  some 
particular  purpose,  this  remarkable  man  left  almost 
immediately  luncheon  was  over.  No  sooner  was 
the  Minister  alone  with  his  hostess  than  she  drew 
a  long  sigh  of  relief. 

"The  place  will  have  to  be  disinfected,"  she  said. 

"The  poisonous  blackguard!"  said  Mr.  Draper, 
sombrely. 

"Well,  he's  shown  you  a  short  cut  to  power  at 
any  rate." 

"The  poisonous  blackguard!  And  somehow  he's 
so  much  cruder  and  so  much  more  limited  than  one's 
recollection  of  him. " 

"When  did  you  meet  last.'"' 

"It  must  be  nearly  ten  years  ago." 

"You  have  grown  since  those  days." 


134  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"I  hope  so,"  said  the  Minister  with  the  simplicity 
that  always  touched  a  chord  in  her.  "Life  must 
be  a  vain  business  if  one  hasn't,  after  all  that  one's 
been  through.  But  those  days  seem  very  far  off 
just  now.  That  poisonous  blackguard,  how  he 
brings  them  back  to  me !  I  don't  think  he^s  changed 
much,  unless  it  is  that  success  has  made  him  more 
unwary." 

"You  mustn't  speak  of  such  shallow  arrogance 
as  success. " 

"Oh,  but  it  is,  you  know.  He  is  the  most  com- 
pletely successful  man  in  the  country,  hence  this 
painful  exhibition  of  himself. " 

"Yes,  I  suppose  he  is.  And  if  you  feel  inclined 
to  play  a  coup  against  the  noble  army  of  the 
Pharisees,  you  have  to  your  hand  a  ready  and 
valuable  tool. " 

"God  forbid  that  I  should  make  use  of  it." 

"Amen!"  said  his  counsellor. 

But  she  averted  her  eyes. 


XVI 

THE  country  continued  to  pass  through  a  period 
of  grave  tension.  The  wise  met  in  council, 
dissolved,  then  met  again.  But  no  decision  could 
they  reach.  It  seemed  beyond  the  wit  of  man  to 
bridge  the  chasm  that  had  opened  in  the  life  of  the 
nation. 

Every  day  that  passed,  with  the  King's  Govern- 
ment still  in  abeyance,  strengthened  the  forces  of 
unrest  and  gave  them  boldness.  Sedition  was  openly 
talked.  On  every  hand  the  parasites  who  wax 
on  industrial  strife  were  making  the  most  of  their 
great  opportunity.  They  were  beginning  boldly 
to  ask  the  question.  If  the  King  cannot  carry  on  his 
Government,  what's  the  use  of  the  King? 

The  deadlock  seemed  hopeless  and  complete. 
It  was  now  known  that  the  Left  had  nominated 
Galloway,  that  the  Right  had  nominated  Mau- 
leverer,  and  that  the  Centre,  the  real  brain  of 
the  Empire,  acutely  realized  the  sheer  impossibility 
of  both.  By  a  grievous  mischance  it  had  no  nominee 
of  its  own  to  run.  Grundy,  in  spite  of  a  year  of 
heroic  effort,  had  proved  unequal  to  the  task  imposed 

X3S 


136  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

upon  him;  Bryant,  its  next  ablest  man,  had  no  longer 
the  physical  vigour;  but  before  the  next  grave  week 
had  passed  another  name  was  heard  upon  the  lips  of 
those  who  were  praying  for  their  country. 

The  President  of  the  Board  of  Conciliation  went 
to  the  headquarters  of  the  railway  workers  at  Derby 
and  made  his  speech.  The  next  day  he  spoke  at 
Sheffield,  and  the  following  day  at  Manchester, 
successfully  braving  bitter  hostility  and  the  threat 
of  bloodshed.  Thence  he  went  to  Leeds  and  to  his 
native  Newcastle,  and  Sunday  found  him  addressing 
a  hundred  thousand  people  on  a  Glasgow  football 
ground. 

Thus  it  was  during  that  week  of  suspense,  which 
witnessed  the  paralysis  of  trade  and  the  slow  gather- 
ing of  the  forces  of  disorder,  the  country  at  large 
came  to  realize  that  one  man  at  least  was  capable 
of  decisive,  fearless,  and  unselfish  action.  It  was  a 
week  of  noble  labour;  his  magical  phrases  were 
flashed  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other;  and 
it  was  felt  in  many  quarters  that  one  had  arisen 
capable  of  grasping  the  tiller  of  the  crazy  ship  of 
state. 

For  one  week  at  least,  in  his  own  simple  words, 
"he  had  done  his  best  to  tide  things  over."  While 
the  heads  of  the  three  parties  were  manuoevring  for 
position,  confounding  issues  and  poisoning  the  wells 
of  controversy,  he  had  passed  from  city  to  city, 


THE  CRISIS  137 

imploring  the  workers  not  to  be  led  aside  from  the 
path  of  sanity. 

It  was  a  great  week's  work.  He  spoke  at  all  hours; 
and  he  spoke  until  his  throat  gave  out  and  he  could 
speak  no  more.  Such  sincerity,  such  force,  such  a 
grasp  of  the  situation,  in  all  its  complexity,  made 
their  appeal  to  all  sections  of  the  community  who  were 
not  drunk  with  passion  or  blinded  by  prejudice. 

He  returned  from  his  tour  in  the  North  about 
midday  on  Tuesday,  having  travelled  throughout 
the  night  from  Scotland,  and  when  he  reached  his 
home  in  Queen  Anne's  Gate  he  was  in  a  state  of 
mental  and  physical  collapse. 

Nicholson  the  butler  welcomed  him.  The  old 
man's  hands  trembled  as  he  helped  his  master  off 
with  his  overcoat. 

"You've  saved  the  country,  sir,"  he  whispered. 
"God  bless  you,  sir." 

In  his  overwrought  condition  the  sudden  tears 
sprang  to  the  eyes  of  the  Minister. 

"Thank  you,  my  dear  fellow.  I  hope  you  may 
be  right.  But  it's  touch  and  go,  you  know;  it's  touch 
and  go." 

"Yes,  sir,  it  is.  I  beg  your  pardon,  sir,  but  if 
I  have  a  fire  lit  in  your  bedroom,  perhaps  you  will 
take  a  few  hours'  rest  after  luncheon."*" 

Mr.  Draper  could  not  forbear  to  smile  at  this 
solicitude. 


i38  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Oh,  thank  you,'* said  he,  "but  I  am  afraid  there 
can  be  no  rest  for  me  at  present. " 

"Well,  sir,"  said  the  old  man,  "if  you'll  forgive 
the  liberty,  I  hope  you  will  not  overtax  your  strength. 
Everything  depends  on  you. " 

"No,  my  dear  Nicholson,  everything  depends 
on  God."  The  odd  humility  of  the  tone  was  very 
characteristic 

Hearing  his  deep  tones,  the  private  secretary 
came  out  into  the  hall  to  greet  him. 

"Well,  Renshaw,"  said  the  Minister,  "what  of 
it  here?" 

The  private  secretary  pursed  his  lips  and  shook 
his  head.  The  Minister  linked  his  arm  through 
the  younger  man's  affectionately  and  led  him  into 
his  room. 

"Tell  me  all  the  news,"  he  said  as  he  flung  himself 
on  to  a  sofa.     "Are  they  any  nearer  to  a  decision.""' 

The  private  secretary  hesitated  a  little  before  he 
answered. 

"Yes,  sir,  perhaps  they  are.  They  have  had  an 
inspiration."  There  was  an  ironical  note  in  the 
voice  of  the  young  man  that  somehow  made  an 
effect  of  tragedy.  "You'll  never  guess,  sir,  what 
it  is.?" 

The  Minister  flung  back  his  head  among  the  sofa 
cushions  with  a  gesture  of  utter  weariness. 

"Rockingham,  I  expect." 


THE  CRISIS  139 

"You  are  wonderful,  sir  —  and  at  the  first 
shot!" 

"Oh,  one  kind  of  felt  him  in  the  upper  atmosphere." 
The  Minister  closed  his  eyes  and  breathed  heavily. 
"Oh,  it's  dreadful,  dreadful,"  he  said. 

"Is  it  the  beginning  of  the  end,  sir?" 

"Can  they  persuade  him  to  accept?  that  is  the 
question.  He  is  by  no  means  a  fool.  What  is  the 
amount  of  his  backing?" 

"He  can  count  on  the  Right  to  a  man;  it  is 
said  to  be  Mr.  Mauleverer's  suggestion.  And  the 
Centre  has  always  respected  him,  sir,  as  it  does 
respect  a  duke.  But  it  is  the  fact  that  he  made 
friends  with  the  coal  miners,  by  finding  work  for  a 
few  of  them  during  the  coal  strike  last  year,  that  is 
thought  likely  to  turn  the  scale. " 

"But  do  they  seriously  consider  him  to  be  capable 
of  governing  the  country?" 

"I  think,  sir,  they  regard  him  as  a  desperate 
remedy.  The  cabal  now  goes  about  saying  that 
you,  sir,  have  forgotten  Rockingham." 

The  Minister  sat  up  on  the  sofa  with  a  face  of 
anger  and  scorn. 

"They  say  I  have  forgotten  Rockingham!  Do 
they,  indeed?  What  incredible  meanness  and  what 
incredible  madness!"  He  rose  from  the  sofa. 
His  legs  were  unsteady  and  his  face  was  haggard. 
"Renshaw,  I  think  you  had  better  find  out  if  the 


I40  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

duchess  is  in  town.  And  if  she  is,  ask  her  to  be  kind 
enough  to  call  this  afternoon  and  I  will  wait  in  for 
her." 

The  private  secretary  went  to  the  telephone,  and 
presently  returned  with  the  information  that  the 
duchess  was  expected  from  the  country  at  four  o'clock. 

"Where  is  Lady  Aline?"  asked  the  Minister. 
"Is  she  in  the  country  too?" 

"She  went  to  Lady  Loring's,  I  believe,  sir,  on 
Friday  evening, "  said  the  private  secretary. 

"Do  you  know  when  she  is  returning?" 

"No,  sir,  I  do  not." 

The  Minister  touched  the  bell,  and  Nicholson 
promptly  answered  the  summons. 

"Can  you  tell  me,  Nicholson,  when  your  mistress 
returns?" 

"No,  sir,  I  cannot,"  said  the  butler,  looking  very 
white  and  old.     "  She  left  no  word,  sir. " 

"Thank  you.  And  by  the  way,  Nicholson,  I 
am  going  to  take  your  advice.  I  will  have  a  little 
luncheon,  and  then  I'll  go  to  bed  for  a  couple  of 
hours." 

"Thank  you,  sir."  The  tone  of  the  old  man  was 
paternal.  "I  will  have  a  fire  lit  at  once  in  your 
room. " 

"There  is  no  need  to  do  that." 

"Oh,  but  I  will,  sir.  I  would  very  much  like  to, 
sir,  if  I  may." 


THE  CRISIS  141 

"Oh,  very  well." 

The  butler  withdrew. 

"Dear  old  fellow,"  said  the  Minister.  "He  at 
least  appreciates  the  gravity  of  it  all. " 

The  private  secretary,  whose  mind  was  cast  in 
a  more  conventional  mould,  was  inclined  to  smile. 


XVII 

THE  Minister  had  declared  his  intention  of 
sleeping  for  a  couple  of  hours.  Overwrought 
nature,  however,  took  him  in  hand,  so  that  the  two 
hours  grew  into  four,  and  it  was  six  o'clock  when 
Nicholson  roused  him.  He  was  informed  that  the 
Duchess  of  Rockingham  had  called,  and  awaited 
him  in  the  library. 

He  dressed  in  haste  and  then  descended  to  greet 
her  in  his  usual  impulsive  fashion. 

"It  is  good  of  you,"  he  said. 

She  received  him  with  her  frank  and  charming 
smile. 

"I  am  so  glad  you  were  snatching  a  little  rest," 
she  said.     "You  must  be  worn  out. " 

"Very  nearly,"  he  admitted.  "Another  such 
week  would  kill  me. " 

"Well,  you  have  done  nobly." 

She  offered  both  her  hands.  He  took  only  one, 
and  this  he  bore  to  his  lips  with  a  gesture  of  homage. 

"And  now  I  am  hungry  for  the  news,"  he  said. 
"Give  me  all  there  is.  Renshaw  says  they  have 
actually  decided  to  run  my  lord  duke." 

142 


THE  CRISIS  143 

He  watched  her  stiffen.  There  was  something 
other  than  malice,  something  other  than  contempt, 
in  the  narrowing  of  the  eyes. 

"Yes,"  she  said,  "the  incredible  happens  some- 
times. " 

"It  would  be  a  farce,  my  dear  Evelyn,"  was  his 
comment,  "if  we  were  not  on  the  brink  of  an  al- 
most unrealizable  tragedy.  Tell  me,  what  are  his 
chances.''" 

"His  chances  are  unexpectedly  good  if  he  cares 
to  take  them. " 

"Yes,  one  feels  that.  The  Right  will  go  solid. 
He  is  one  of  themselves,  although  they  know  his 
value.  And  he  has  always  had  a  curious,  an  inex- 
plicable fascination  for  the  Centre.  It's  his  rank, 
I  suppose.  Well,  it  will  be  a  fitting  requiem  for 
Britain  if  the  slavish  snobbery  of  her  middle  class 
contrives  her  ruin.  A  sublime  act  of  poetic  justice 
at  any  rate.  But  the  question  is,  Will  the  Left  be 
able  to  swallow  him?  Tell  me,  Evelyn,  how  do  you 
feel  about  that.?" 

"Opinions  are  much  divided  at  present.  But, 
quite  frankly,  my  dear  James,  I  am  afraid  they 
might.  You  see  he  found  employment  for  some  of 
the  miners  during  the  recent  coal  strike,  and  he's 
won  the  Derby  twice.  At  a  pinch  they  might  accept 
him  as  a  stopgap,  provided  there  is  nobody  better. " 

"Can  he  keep  the  ship  off  the  rocks,  do  you  think.''" 


144  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"No." 

"Does  he  realize  that?" 

"Oh,  yes,  one  would  say  he  does.  He  is  very  clear- 
sighted in  most  things." 

"Do  you  think  he  will  accept  office.'*" 

"  It  is  most  difficult  to  say.  He  is  such  an  enigma. 
We  none  of  us  know  our  Rockingham. " 

"No,  I  suppose  not.  By  the  way,  they  say  that 
Caesar  is  not  ambitious.  It  that  your  view  of 
Csesar?" 

"  I  don't  think  he  is  ambitious  in  the  way  that  — 
shall  we  say  that  Evan  Mauleverer  is,  for  instance? 
Our  poor  dear  Robert  is  always  grand  seigneur." 

The  Minister  smiled. 

"The  point  is,  my  dear  Evelyn,  is  such  an  aristo- 
crat capable  of  soiling  his  lily-white  soul  with  the 
base  cares  of  office  in  order  to  spike  the  guns  of  a 
*  Haberdasher'?" 

"I  won't  answer  your  question  offhand,  my  dear 
James.  Noblesse  oblige  is  one  of  those  queer  diseases 
that  take  a  man  in  unexpected  ways.  We  none  of 
us  know  our  Rockingham,  and  that  is  all  the  comfort 
I  can  give  you  at  present. " 

"Well,  the  man  is  by  no  means  a  fool  in  whatever 
way  his  malady  may  take  him.  And  if  we  allow 
a  man  is  not  a  fool,  we  have  then  to  hope  piously 
that  he  is  not  a  knave. " 

"That  is  to  say,  my  dear  James,  that  poor  Robert, 


THE  CRISIS  145 

being  neither  a  fool  nor  a  knave,  is  bound  to  realize 
that  in  this  pass  a  Rockingham  administration  spells 
ruin  for  the  country. " 

"Stark  ruin." 

"Can  poor  dear  Robert  be  expected  to  realize 
that,  especially  as  his  backing  is  likely  to  be  solid 
and  extensive?" 

The  worn  and  haggard  look  grew  more  intense 
on  the  Minister's  face. 

"A  Rockingham  ministry  is  madness,"  he  said 
in  a  hollow  tone,  "whatever  the  amount  of  its  back- 
ing with  the  country  in  its  present  state.  It  is  sheer 
criminal  lunacy.  Have  they  all  completely  lost 
touch  with  the  North.?" 

"What  it  amounts  to  is  this,  my  friend:  the  pious 
advisers  of  your  Sovereign  are  prepared  to  risk 
Robert  rather  than  risk  you." 

"Then  curse  their  eyes!"  The  Minister  yielded 
suddenly  to  an  uncontrollable  and  rather  hyster- 
ical gust  of  anger  that  brought  him  to  the  verge  of 
tears. 

She  gave  an  adroit  turn  to  the  conversation. 

"Where  is  Aline,  by  the  way?"  she  asked. 

"At  her  Aunt  Loring's,  I  believe,"  said  the 
Minister,  recovering  his  self-possession.  "  She  went 
there  on  Friday. " 

"When  does  she  return?" 

"  I  don't  know.     She  has  not  written  to  me.  '* 


146  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

A  faint  shadow  of  embarrassment  had  crept  over 
the  face  of  Lady  AHne*s  husband. 

"Evelyn,"  he  said  in  a  rather  odd  tone,  "I  am 
going  to  make  you  a  little  confidence. " 

His  look  of  pain  made  her  heart  beat  quickly. 

"Aline  and  I  seem  to  have  been  drifting  apart 
lately.  Something  seems  to  have  come  between  us. 
I  am  afraid  we  didn't  part  friends." 

Her  eyes  were  unfathomable 

"I   was   strongly  opposed   to   her  going  to   the 
Lorings*.     They    and    their    set    are    quite   out   of 
sympathy  with  me.     I  told  Aline  that  it  wasn't  loyal, 
and  I  particularly  hoped  she  wouldn't  go." 
'And  she  took  it  ill.?" 

"Yes,  she  took  it  ill." 

His  voice  was  that  of  a  man  who  had  been  cut  to 
the  heart.  "She  said  some  cruel  things.  In  fact,  I 
didn't  quite  realize  how  cruel  they  were  at  first." 
His  voice  broke  rather  queerly.  "My  head  was  full 
of  the  Derby  speech  at  the  time.  But  after  all,  my 
dear  Evelyn,  why  should  I  bore  you  with  all  this.**" 

"Please  tell  me,  James,  just  what  you  said  to  her." 

"I  merely  said  it  was  disloyal  to  accept  the 
Lorings'  invitation  when  all  England  knew  how 
contemptuously  they  judged  me. " 

"And  what  was  her  answer  to  that?" 

"Her  answer  was  to  accept  the  invitation."  The 
voice  of  the  Minister  failed  suddenly. 


THE  CRISIS  147 

"Well,  don't  judge  her  too  harshly,"  she  said. 
"  It  is  only  pretty  Fanny's  way,  although  it  is  a  very 
naughty  way,  and  she  deserves  to  be  whipped. 
At  any  rate,  we  must  hope  she  will  return  before 
the  end  of  the  week." 

"Why  must  we  hope  that?" 

"Loring  has  called  a  week-end  meeting  of  the 
cabal  to  consider  Robert's  nomination. " 

"Ha!" 

"She  certainly  ought  not  to  be  there  then,  don't 
you  think?" 

"I  quite  agree." 

"You  say  she  went  down  on  Friday  to  the  Lor- 
ings'?" 

"So  I  am  informed." 

"And  I  am  informed  that  my  wicked  husband 
went  there  on  Friday  also. " 

"Oh,  yes,  he  is  always  at  Cloudesley. " 

The  tone  of  indifference  rather  took  her  aback. 


XVIII 

Duchess  of  Rockingham   to   the   Honourable 
Mrs.  George  Glen-Maitland 

MY  DEAR  LAURA:  I  sit  down  at  midnight, 
as  usual,  to  bore  you  to  tears  with  a  mind  dis- 
traught. Let  it  stand  this  time  for  my  excuse  that 
within  the  last  hour  I  have  passed  through  a  very 
strange  experience.  It  has  left  me  breathless  and 
rather  bruised.  It  is  not  like  "life"  at  all  as  you  and 
I  understand  it.  The  whole  thing  seems  to  belong 
to  the  boards  of  a  theatre  or  the  pages  of  a  very 
second-rate  novel. 

Odd  and  unnatural  as  the  matter  is,  however, 
there  is  a  something  about  the  whole  affair  which 
has  shaken  me  as  I  have  never  been  shaken  before. 
I  am  going  to  try  to  give  you  the  thing  exactly  as  it 
occurred,  not  so  much,  my  dear,  for  your  information 
as  for  my  own  ease  of  mind.  It  is  a  very  strange  and, 
to  me,  rather  terrible  matter. 

Let  me  write  down  the  incident  in  detail  exactly 
as  it  came  to  me. 

It  was  about  a  quarter  to  eleven.     I  was  sitting 

148 


THE  CRISIS  149 

here  in  this  room  which  we  both  love  so  well,  and 
instead  of  giving  thoughts  to  bed  I  had  allowed 
myself  to  become  absorbed  by  B.'s  latest  novel. 
I  was  thinking  what  a  wonderful  power  the  man  had ; 
I  was  thinking  how  the  times  were  changing;  I  was 
thinking,  my  dear,  how  little  "the  frills"  of  life  — 
from  which  you  and  I  have  suffered  all  our  born  days 
—  really  matter  when  one  comes  down  to  the  bed- 
rock. Human  nature  seems  to  amount  to  just  about 
the  same  in  a  slum  in  the  Midlands  as  it  does  at 
Rockingham  House  or  Glen  Iver,  N.  B. 

Well,  who  should  disturb  this  profound  thought 
but  Harpole.  You  know  the  man  I  mean  — 
wooden,  stupid,  pompous,  the  archetype  of  a  ducal 
servant.  He  came  in  more  wooden,  stupid  and 
pompous  than  usual;  and  after  a  certain  amount 
of  hesitation  and  circumlocution  he  was  able  to 
inform  me  that  "a  Mr.  Nicholson  in  the  service 
of  Lady  Aline  Draper  would  take  it  as  a  most  par- 
ticular favour  if  I  would  consent  to  see  him  in 
private." 

"Certainly,"  I  said.     "Show  him  up  here." 

Somehow  I  felt  impregnated  with  the  spirit  of  a 
B.  novel;  a  delicious  sense  of  romance  seemed  to 
possess  me. 

Well,  my  dear,  as  soon  as  Mr.  Nicholson  entered 
I  recognized  him  at  once.  It  was  my  old  friend  — 
Mr.  D.'s  butler;  the  old  man  with  whom  I  have 


ISO  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

continual  skirmishes  in  order  to  get  access  to  the 
Presence. 

But  as  soon  as  the  old  fellow  came  in,  twisting  his 
hat  nervously  in  his  hands,  and  with  his  shabby 
overcoat  buttoned  up  to  the  throat,  there  was  some- 
thing about  him  that  seemed  to  send  a  shock  right 
through  me.  If  I  have  ever  beheld  a  lost  soul  this 
was  he. 

I  took  pity  at  once  on  the  poor  old  thing's  strained 
face  and  white  hairs  and  asked  him  to  sit  down. 

"I  couldn't  think  of  presuming,  your  Grace,"  he 
said  in  a  voice  that  I  didn't  seem  to  remember. 

But  I  was  firm,  and  he  sat. 

"Now  tell  me  your  trouble,"  I  said,  with  a  sincere 
desire  to  help  him,  for  he  was  certainly  suffering 
horribly. 

Of  course,  I  hadn't  a  thought  as  to  what  his  trouble 
might  be,  and  when  I  learned  it  it  rather  took  my 
breath  away. 

He  was  tormented  by  a  dreadful  secret.  His 
mistress  A.,  it  seemed,  had  left  her  husband  for  good 
and  he  alone  knew  the  fact.  She  had  gone  to  her 
Aunt  Lady  Loring's  the  Friday  previous,  while  Mr. 
D.  was  conducting  his  campaign  in  the  North.  She 
had  taken  away  all  her  clothes  and  her  jewels,  and 
had  left  a  note  for  Mr.  D.  to  apprise  him  of  the  fact. 

"And  this  note  was  left  in  your  care,"  I  asked, 
"to  give  to  Mr.  D.  upon  his  return  from  Scotland?" 


THE  CRISIS  151 

He  admitted  it. 

"And  you  have  not  done  so?" 

He  admitted  that  also.  And  then  I  asked  him 
why  he  had  not,  and  he  said  that  Mr.  D.  was  so  over- 
wrought when  he  returned  that  he  was  afraid  of  the 
effect  upon  him  while  he  was  in  that  s  tate,  and  he  made 
use  of  these  prophetic  words :  "  If  anything  happens 
to  him  now  there  will  be  an  end  of  everything." 

"But  are  you  not  taking  a  great  deal  too  much 
upon  yourself  in  withholding  that  letter?"  I  said. 

He  burst  into  tears.  He  was  like  a  man  beside 
himself. 

"I  didn't  dare  to  risk  it,  knowing  the  state  he 
was  in,"  he  said.  "He  is  a  man  of  strong  feelings, 
as  your  Grace  would  know.  And  I  feel  bound  to 
consider  the  countiy. " 

I  pointed  out  to  him  as  kindly  as  I  could  that  it 
was  hardly  his  place  to  consider  the  country.  He 
replied  very  gently  and  politely  that  he  felt  it  to  be 
his  duty  to  consider  the  country. 

I  was  forced  to  differ;  but  he  bowed  his  noble 
gray  head  —  it  is  a  noble  head  —  in  dissent,  and  he 
looked  so  piteous  that  I  felt  near  to  tears  myself. 

"You  have  withheld  the  letter,"  I  said.  "And 
what,  pray,  do  you  propose  to  do  with  it?  Do  you 
intend  to  destroy  it?" 

He  spread  out  his  hands  — -long,  thin,  beautiful, 
the  hands  of  a  poet. 


152  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"No,  whatever  happens  I  shall  not  destroy  it. 
It  is  not  mine  to  destroy." 

"Nor  is  it  yours  to  withhold,"  I  said. 

He  allowed  it  was  not.  "But  I  hope  God  will 
forgive  me,"  he  said.  "I  have  withheld  it  in  the 
hope  of  saving  the  country." 

He  sat  like  one  transfigured,  his  face  furrowed 
with  tears. 

"But  your  master  is  bound  to  find  out  the  truth." 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "but  I  feel  that  if  we  can  only 
tide  over  the  next  few  days,  while  this  great  crisis 
passes,  he  will  be  able  to  deal  with  this  matter  as 
those  who  love  England,  as  those  who  love  him, 
would  have  him  deal  with  it. " 

I  think  I  have  never  felt  so  touched  in  my  life  as 
by  those  simple  words  and  the  way  in  which  they 
were  spoken. 

"Then  it  is  not  fear  of  the  consequences  of  your 
action  that  has  brought  you  to  me.''" 

"No,"  he  said.  "I  do  not  think  about  myself. 
If  my  master,  Mr.  D.,  can  save  the  monarchy  I 
would  gladly  die  to-night." 

"You  think  it  has  come  to  that?" 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "I  do.  I  have  watched  this 
thing  growing  year  by  year.  I  have  been  in  the 
service  of  three  prime  ministers;  my  life  has  been 
spent,  as  it  were,  in  the  inner  circle.  A  knowledge 
of  many  things  has  been  granted  to  me.     A  power 


THE  CRISIS  153 

above  myself  has  compelled  me  to  withhold  this 
letter  from  my  master  until  this  week  is  out,  and 
—  and " 

His  voice  broke  hysterically. 

"What  is  the  power  that  has  compelled  you?" 

"It  is  God,"  he  said.  "At  least  it  is  what  I 
understand  by  God.  But  I  have  never  been  a 
really  deeply  religious  man.  And  now  to-night  all  of 
a  sudden,  something  seems  to  have  snapped  inside 
me  and  —  and " 

He  swayed  to  and  fro  in  a  kind  of  torment. 

"And  I  want  the  help  of  some  one  who  is  stronger 
and  better  and  wiser  than  myself."  He  buried 
his  face  in  his  hands.  "To-night,  I  feel  if  I  once 
let  go  I  shall  go  mad. " 

I  was  too  shattered  to  speak.  Somehow  I  felt 
I  was  being  dragged  into  psychical  regions  which 
wise  people  keep  as  far  away  from  as  they  can. 

"Has  something  happened  to-night  which  has 
taken  away  your  nerve?"  I  asked  at  last. 

He  confessed  that  such  was  the  case.  His  master 
had  written  a  letter  to  his  wife  in  the  country  and 
had  given  it  to  him  to  post. 

"What  have  you  done  with  the  letter?  Did 
you  post  it?" 

"No,"  he  said.  "I  did  not  post  it.  A  voice 
seemed  to  tell  me  not  to  do  so.  I  have  it  here  in  my 
pocket  along  with  the  other  one." 


154  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"To  whom  do  you  ascribe  the  voice?" 

"If  I  were  a  deeply  religious  man,  I  should  take 
it  to  be  the  voice  of  the  Most  High. " 

"Are  you  not  deeply  religious?" 

"I  am  religious  in  a  manner  of  speaking,  but 
deeply  religious,  I  am  not.  If  I  were  deeply  religious 
I  should  not  be  afraid  of  going  too  far. " 

"That  is  to  say,  that  had  you  been  a  deeply 
religious  man  you  would  still  have  acted  as  you  did, 
but  you  would  have  kept  your  own  counsel  until 
you  felt  the  time  had  come  to  make  a  full  confession 
to  your  master?" 

"Yes,  that  is  what  I  should  have  done  had  I 
been  able  to  walk  close  with  my  God. " 

"Is  it,  then,  that  you  are  afraid  of  what  you  have 
done?" 

"Yes,  I  am  afraid.  Not  for  myself  or  not  because 
I  have  done  wrong.  But  not  having  enough  strength 
within  me  I  feel  that  I  am  being  pressed  beyond  my 
limit,  and  in  the  name  of  the  country  I  ask  you 
to  help  me." 

I,  too,  had  the  sensation  then  of  being  pressed 
beyond  my  limit;  I,  too,  at  that  moment  felt  an 
acuter  need  of  a  vital,  personal  religion  than  I  had 
ever  felt  before. 

"But  how  can  I  help  you?"  I  said  at  last,  feebly. 
"What  can  I  do?  I  understand  your  motive,  but 
I  dare  express  no  opinion  upon  it.     You  have  acted 


THE  CRISIS  155 

as  you  think  right  in  the  circumstances.  I  dare  not 
say  you  have  done  wrong." 

He  rocked  his  frail  body  to  and  fro  in  a  way  that 
was  painful  to  see. 

"If  you  can  say  I  have  done  right,"  he  said,  "I 
can  go  on. " 

"And  if  I  cannot  say  it.''"  And  I  felt  a  sudden, 
terrible  tightening  of  the  throat  as  I  asked  the 
question. 

"Well!"  He  closed  his  eyes  piteously  and  spread 
out  his  hands.     "  I  feel  that  everything  will  go. " 

"That  is  to  say,  you  will  confess  to  your  master?" 

"No,  I  don't  mean  that,"  he  said.  "But  what 
I  feel  is  that  unless  you  can  sustain  me  a  little  I  — 
I " 

He  covered  his  face. 

"Haven't  you  been  sleeping  lately.'"'  I  asked. 

He  said  he  had  not. 

"Since  when?" 

"My  head  has  not  touched  a  pillow  since  last 
Thursday  morning. " 

I  asked  the  reason.  With  great  reluctance  he 
confessed  that  a  certain  person,  whom  I  did  not 
ask  him  to  name,  had  spoken  words  to  his  mistress 
in  his  hearing  which  had  prepared  him  for  that 
which  was  about  to  happen. 

"What  steps  did  you  take?" 

" I  could  do  nothing." 


156  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"No,  of  course  you  couldn't." 

"Beyond  imploring  her  upon  my  knees  to  reflect 
upon  her  action." 

"And  that  had  no  effect?" 

"No,  but  I  could  see  she  thought  I  was  mad. 
And  I  almost  thought  I  was  myself,  except  that 
when  a  man  thinks  he's  mad  they  say  he  isn't. " 

"But  you  tried  by  every  means  in  your  power  to 
restrain  her  —  out  of  love  for  your  master,  and  out 
of  love  for  your  country?" 

"Yes,  your  Grace.  But  I  was  only  a  servant, 
and  my  prayers  were  not  heard." 

"And  on  Friday  morning  she  left  the  house  fully 
determined  never  to  return?" 

"Yes." 

"At  the  instance  of  the  person  whom  you  have  had 
occasion  to  mention  already?" 

"I  would  prefer  to  express  no  opinion  upon  that, 
if  you  will  permit  me. "  He  spoke  as  only  a  gentle- 
man could  have  done. 

Somehow  I  felt  quite  unnerved.  This  was  a  poor 
lost  soul.  He  seemed  beyond  human  aid.  His 
eyes  haunt  me  as  I  write.  As  he  himself  expressed 
it,  when  his  master  gave  him  the  letter  to  post  he  had 
been  pressed  beyond  his  limit;  and  there  he  sat, 
bereft  of  his  will. 

"Tell  me,"  I  said,  "is  it  that  you  feel  that  your 
master  is  not  strong  enough  to  meet  this  crisis  in 


THE  CRISIS  157 

his  own  life,  while  the  fate  of  the  country  hangs  in 
the  balance?" 

"That  is  what  I  feel." 

"But  may  you  not  be  mistaken?" 

"Perhaps  I  may.  But  I  dare  not  take  the  risk. 
A  man  can  only  judge  by  his  own  strength  when  he 
acts  in  the  place  of  another. " 

"That  is  to  say,  you  would  be  unequal  to  the  task 
of  coping  with  such  a  crisis  in  your  own  life  at  such 
a  moment  in  the  life  of  the  nation?" 

"I  think  no  man  would  have  the  strength.  And 
I  believe  that  is  a  fact  that  might  weigh  with  his 
enemies." 

"You  think  this  business  of  your  mistress  is  part 
of  a  plot  to  ruin  him  politically?" 

"  I  am  not  entitled  to  say  that. " 

"But  you  fear  it?" 

"I  hope  you  will  not  insist  on  an  answer  to  the 
question." 

I  did  not.  And  I  felt  bound  to  respect  him  the  more. 

As  I  sat  facing  him  a  tragic  helplessness  seemed  to 
numb  me.  What  could  I  do?  What  advice  could 
I  give?  He  had  made  me  see  that  his  conduct  was 
based  on  a  high  instinct,  which  I  had  neither  the 
strength  nor  the  courage  to  deny.  Had  my  life 
depended  on  it,  as  I  sat  watching  his  emotion,  I 
could  not  have  said  whether  he  had  acted  rightly 
or  wrongly. 


iS8  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"You  have  come  to  me,"  I  said,  "because  you 
want  somebody  to  share  the  responsibility  of  your 
action?" 

"Yes,"  he  said.  "I  ask  you  to  help  me  to  pass 
through  this  terrible  crisis  in  the  life  of  the  nation." 

"Is  it  that  there  is  any  specific  thing  you  would 
ask  me.'*" 

"Yes,  there  is  one  thing,"  he  said.  "If  you 
approve  of  my  action  I  ask  you  to  take  charge  of 
these  letters. " 

He  unbuttoned  his  overcoat  and  produced  the  two 
letters  from  an  inner  pocket.  Then  he  rose  and  put 
them  on  the  table. 

I  hope  I  have  no  superfluity  of  copybook  morality. 
I  hope  I  am  neither  a  prig  nor  a  coward,  but  when 
thus  he  asked  me  to  bear  a  part  in  his  crime  I  felt  a 
sudden  nausea.  He  may  have  been  right,  he  may 
have  been  wrong;  I  do  not  judge  him,  nor  shall  I  ever 
be  able  to  judge  him,  but  somehow  the  sight  of  those 
letters  seemed  to  show  me  the  way  for  us  both. 

"Nicholson,"  I  said,  "it  is  reasonably  clear  that 
your  God  has  imposed  a  task  upon  you  beyond  your 
present  strength.  Had  you  been  equal  to  the  task 
you  would  have  kept  your  own  counsel,  you  would 
not  have  come  to  me  for  countenance.  But  since 
you  have  sought  my  advice,  I  will  give  it  as  far  as 
I  am  capable,  by  the  light  of  that  reason  which  is  no 
more  than  the  counterpart  of  your  own.     We  are  the 


THE  CRISIS  159 

creatures  of  Fate.  We  must  be  content  to  be  the 
creatures  of  Fate.  If  it  be  the  will  of  Providence 
that  an  instrument  has  been  appointed  to  deliver 
our  beloved  country  from  its  peril,  it  lies  neither  in 
your  power  nor  mine  to  retard  or  advance  its  design. 
Neither  you  nor  I  can  know  what  reserves  of  strength 
your  master  may  possess.  God  alone  can  know  that. 
But  if  He  has  chosen  him  to  deliver  our  country, 
whatever  his  enemies  may  do  to  him.  He  will  see  him 
through. " 

I  don't  know  that  my  words  had  any  particular 
wisdom;  I  don't  think  they  were  the  fruit  of  any 
particular  faith  —  alas !  I  am  no  nearer  to  God 
than  the  majority  of  my  generation  —  they  simply 
shaped  themselves  on  my  lips  without  any  conscious 
volition,  but  their  effect  was  greater  than  I  could 
have  hoped  or  foreseen.  The  poor  old  man  sprang 
from  his  chair  as  though  some  secret  spring  had  been 
pressed  in  his  heart. 

"My  faith  has  not  been  great  enough,"  he  said. 
"When  Mr.  D.  has  recovered  a  little  I  will  give  him 
the  letters.  I  thank  you  from  the  bottom  of  my 
heart." 

He  took  up  the  letters  and  buttoned  them  inside 
his  coat,  and  then  he  prepared  to  leave.  But  I  felt 
that  I  could  not  let  him  go  without  some  attempt  at 
a  consolation  it  was  not  in  my  power  to  give.  I 
assured  him  that  whatever  happened  to  him,  or  to 


i6o  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

his  master,  or  to  the  country,  he  would  always  have 
my  respect.  That  seemed  to  comfort  him;  and  then 
very  shyly  and  humbly  he  asked  me  if  I  would  mind 
praying  with  him  a  little  —  and  I  did ! 

.  .  .  Yes,  my  dear  Laura,  it  has  been  by  far 
the  strangest  experience  I  have  ever  passed  through. 
It  has  also  been  a  rather  harrowing  experience. 
As  I  write  this  for  the  relief  of  an  overwrought  mind 
—  and  it  is  all  so  horribly  intimate  that  I  don't 
suppose  this  letter  will  go  to  the  post,  although  we 
have  shared  almost  every  thought  we  have  had  in 
our  lives  —  the  feeling  uppermost  in  my  heart,  now 
that  I  am  left  alone  with  my  emotions,  is,  that  after 
all,  I  may  not  have  acted  right.  Some  high  power 
may  have  possessed  the  noble  soul  enclosed  in  that 
frail  vessel;  some  divine  instinct  may  have  inspired 
him  to  find  the  way  out  for  us  all. 

The  episode  has  shattered  me  for  the  time  being. 
I,  too,  am  horribly  tormented.  But  in  these  kinds 
of  crises  we  act  automatically;  and  whether  we  do 
right,  or  whether  we  do  wrong,  we  cannot  go  against 
our  natures. 

Mr.  D.  was  much  overdone  when  I  saw  him  this 
evening.  His  week's  labour  for  the  country  would 
have  taxed  a  Hercules.  A  quarter  of  a  million 
people  have  learned  the  sound  of  his  voice.  He  is 
completely  worn  out.  I  am  wofully  afraid  of  the 
consequences,  yet  for  good  or  ill  the  die  is  cast. 


THE  CRISIS  i6i 

Never  have  I  felt  such  a  need  of  strength  as  now. 
I,  too,  am  being  driven  beyond  my  limit. 

We  all  feel  this  need  of  God:  poor  Nicholson  and 
I,  the  humble  servants  of  the  chosen  instrument, 
and  he,  the  God-appointed  one,  yet  more  than  any. 
Perhaps  our  country  would  not  have  been  brought 
to  this  pass  had  she  walked  with  Him  lately  as  of  old. 
Are  we  to  be  one  with  Nineveh  and  Tyre.^  Has  it 
been  left  for  one  woman  as  weak  and  frail  as  myself 
to  undo  all.''  No,  I  cannot  think  so.  O  ye  of  little 
faith!  Those  five  precious  little  words  are  now  my 
only  stay.  The  cabal  has  now  fixed  upon  R.  It 
meets  at  Cloudesley  this  week-end.  It  is  a  bitter 
and  tragic  irony.  I  refuse  to  believe  that  such  a 
makeshift  Government  can  be  called  into  being.. 
Still,  those  whom  the  gods  would  destroy ! 


XIX 

MR.  DRAPER  rose  late  on  the  morning  after 
his  return.  Noon  was  approaching  by  the 
time  he  was  seated  at  his  writing-table  in  his  room. 

The  eyes  of  the  butler  had  already  carefully  noted 
his  appearance.  Had  he  slept?  The  old  man  tak- 
ing his  courage  in  his  hands,  had  already  ventured 
to  ask  the  question,  and  had  met  with  a  cordial  and 
reassuring  answer. 

With  the  servant  it  was  far  otherwise.  He  had 
not  slept,  nor  had  he  attempted  to  do  so.  He  was 
still  overborne  by  a  sense  of  destiny.  But  this  morn- 
ing he  was  calm  and  fixed  of  purpose.  In  whatever 
light  his  action  was  viewed  he  was  now  secure  of  soul. 

His  master  had  had  a  good  night  —  that  was  the 
determining  factor.  Compared  with  yesterday  he 
was  looking  braced  and  alert  this  morning.  Nichol- 
son decided  that  twelve  o'clock  must  be  the  hour. 

Man  proposes!  At  five  minutes  to  twelve  the 
dethroned  Prime  Minister  called  to  see  his  late 
colleague. 

Mr.  Grundy  was  a  man  about  sixty.  He  was  of 
the  middle  height,  inclining  a  little  to  stoutness, 

162 


THE  CRISIS  163 

presenting  no  very  striking  point  in  his  personality 
beyond  a  rather  fine  head  and  a  calm,  paternal 
smile  which  lent  him  an  appearance  of  great  wisdom. 

It  must  be  allowed  that  his  habit  of  mind  did  no 
injustice  to  this  outward  portent.  By  many  he  was 
thought  to  be  the  wisest  man  in  the  kingdom.  He 
was  cautious,  calculating,  impartial,  a  little  sophisti- 
cal perhaps  on  occasion,  but  subject  to  fine  flashes 
of  candour,  superbly  accessible  to  all  sorts  and  con- 
ditions of  men,  and  with  the  rare  gift  of  pleasing  all 
with  whom  he  was  brought  in  contact.  He  had 
earned  the  respect  of  all  sections  of  the  community. 
As  a  leader  he  was  lacking  in  inspiration  and  authen- 
ticity, but  he  was  a  man  who  had  deserved  well  of 
his  country,  and  his  country  was  by  no  means  insen- 
sible of  its  obligation.  Had  he  only  possessed  a 
little  more  courage,  a  little  more  initiative,  that  dual 
endowment  without  which  all  leadership  is  vain,  the 
present  state  of  chaos  might  not  have  arisen. 

It  was  the  first  meeting  since  the  tragic  event  of  the 
dethroned  leader  and  the  man  who  had  wrecked  his 
second  administration. 

Mr.  Draper  rose  from  his  writing-table  as  soon  as 
his  visitor  was  announced  and  sprang  forward  with 
hand  outstretched  to  greet  him.  The  older  states- 
man accepted  the  hand  without  the  slightest  reserve 
or  arriere-pensee. 

"  I  feel  it  to  be  so  kind,  so  good  of  you  to  call  upon 


i64  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

me,"  said  the  younger  man  with  the  impulsiveness 
which  endeared  him  to  his  friends.  Moreover,  there 
was  a  ring  of  genuine  affection  in  the  tone.  It  was  a 
quality  his  chief  had  always  inspired  in  those  who  had 
worked  with  him. 

"Business,  business,  my  dear  fellow,"  said  Mr. 
I  Grundy  with  a  charming  air  of  brusquerie  —  another 
of  his  assets.  "  Last  night  we  dined  in  high  places,  my 
wife  and  I.  Naturally  the  conversation  turned  upon 
you  and  your  wonderful  week's  work.  The  Fountain 
of  Honour  desires  to  thank  you  personally.  I  said  I 
would  bring  you  along  this  morning  if  you  were 
available.  But  don't  come  unless  you  feel  equal  to 
it,  because  I  am  afraid  we  shall  be  expected  to  stay 
to  lunch." 

"I  consider  it  in  the  light  of  a  great  honour,"  said 
the  younger  man. 

Mr.  Grundy's  comically  quizzical  face  denoted 
resignation. 

"Well,  he's  easier  to  talk  to  than  his  father  was. 
He  can  see  a  joke  —  at  least,  that  is  to  say,  there 
are  traces  of  an  incipient  sense  of  humour  in  a  rudi- 
mentary state.  And,  of  course,  a  Christian  gentle- 
man —  always  a  Christian  gentleman.  He's  a  dear 
.fellow,  really,  I  always  think." 

"  I  am  glad  you  think  he  is  a  Christian  gentleman," 
said  Mr.  Draper.  "That  is  always  the  impression 
he  makes  on  me." 


THE  CRISIS  i6s 

"Yes,  always  that  —  to  me.  The  type  Is  not  ex- 
tinct as  long  as  we  have  him.  I  wish  people  could 
be  made  to  realize  it.  And  a  rather  shrewd  fellow 
withal  in  some  ways." 

"  I  am  so  glad  you  think  that." 

"  I  am  not  here  to  flatter  you,  Draper,  but  he's  pro- 
foundly grateful  for  what  you  have  done." 

"For  throwing  us  over  the  precipice.?" 

"No,  not  for  that.  For  your  splendid  effort  to  pull 
the  thing  to  rights.  He  has  read  your  speeches  and 
marked  your  progress,  and  under  the  guidance  of 
Heaven  he  thinks  you  may  save  us  yet." 

The  younger  man  was  touched  by  the  elder  states- 
man's generosity. 

"Thank  you,  Grundy,"  he  said.  "You  don't 
know  what  it  means  to  me  that  you  should  come  and 
tell  me  this." 

"I  think  we  can  all  rejoice,  my  dear  fellow,  that 
he  is  such  a  good  and  sensible  man.  And  my  feeling 
is  this,  if  those  inflated  fools  on  the  Right  who  are  so 
devilish  full  of  themselves  can  only  be  persuaded  to 
let  him  alone,  his  own  instinct  —  and,  after  all,  it 
ought  to  be  a  pretty  sound  one  —  can  be  trusted  to 
find  the  way  out." 

"Grundy,"  said  the  other,  his  deep  voice  vibrating 
with  emotion,  "I  am  more  than  rejoiced  to  hear  you 
say  that." 

"I  may  be  mistaken,  of  course.     But  that  Is  the 


i66  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

impression  he  gave  me  last  night.  He  Is  quite  able 
to  do  a  little  thinking  for  himself;  and  of  course  he 
has  the  inestimable  advantage  of  being  outside  it  all." 

"  You  feel  that  he  may  have  a  mind  of  his  own?" 

"  I  hope  and  pray  that  he  has." 

"  By  the  way,  is  there  any  ground  for  this  rumour 
in  respect  of  the  cabal?" 

"Rockingham?     Yes,  I'm  afraid." 

"Is  it  conceivable?" 

"He's  won  the  Derby  twice,  you  know." 

"Well,  he's  no  fool,  that  must  be  said  for  him. 
And  if  only  he  had  sincerity,  upon  my  soul  we  might 
do  worse." 

"The  *  if '  is  too  big,  my  dear  fellow.  The  thing  has 
been  played  up  so  high  on  both  sides,  that  it  is  only 
absolute  good  faith  that  can  save  the  whole  bag  of 
tricks  from  being  blown  up  to  the  moon." 

"Do  you  think  he  could  play  straight  for  once  — 
in  an  emergency?" 

"Not  he!  A  man  can't  go  against  his  blood.  It 
is  the  ablest  and  the  foulest  blood  in  England.  You 
never  knew  his  father,  old  R.?  He  was  the  sort  of 
man  you  wouldn't  care  to  meet  in  a  lonely  lane  on  a 
dark  night  if  you  had  a  fiver  on  you  —  and  his  rent- 
roll  was  two  hundred  thousand  a  year." 

"I  suppose  if  one  is  born  crooked  one  is  bound  to 
go  crooked." 

"It  would  appear  to  be  so  in  his  case  at  any  rate. 


THE  CRISIS  167 

Having  wearied  of  every  other  form  of  human  pleas- 
ure, scoring  a  dubious  point  against  an  adversary 
seems  to  be  the  only  recreation  that  never  fails  him." 

"Well,  he  always  seems  to  convey  the  impression 
of  being  one  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  country  —  that 
is,  if  he  cared  to  be." 

"Outside  his  Majesty's  gaols,"  said  Mr.  Grundy, 
who  was  without  illusions  on  the  subject  of  human 
nature.  "The  old  Lord  Chief  always  used  to  say 
that  the  best  brains  of  the  kingdom  were  kept 
securely  under  lock  and  key.  By  the  way  —  forgive 
me  for  calling  your  attention  to  it  if  you  haven't 
seen  it,  but  I  rather  feel  that  I  ought  —  I  am  sorry 
to  see  that  you  have  had  the  misfortune  to  make  an 
enemy  of  another  kind  of  blackguard.  Have  you 
seen  the  Daily  Argus  this  morning?" 

"  I  never  read  it." 

"Well,  break  your  rule.  See  if  they  have  a  copy 
in  the  servants'  hall." 

The  Daily  Argus  was  sent  for. 

"There  you  are,"  said  Mr.  Grundy.  "In  the 
largest  type,  if  you  please,  in  the  form  of  a  leading 
article:  'The  Great  Lady  and  the  Democrat:  a 
Parable  for  the  Period.'" 

The  Democrat  read  the  article  with  an  ashen  face 
and  eyes  blazing  with  fury. 

"I  wish  you  hadn't  shown  it  to  me,"  he  said. 

The  elder  man  laid  a  paternal  hand  on  his  shoulder. 


i68  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Don't  be  weak,  my  dear  fellow,"  he  said. 
"Weakness  of  any  kind  can't  be  allowed  in  you. 
It  is  nothing;  the  bite  of  a  gadfly.  Forget  it  until 
the  time  comes  —  and  then  you  can  bear  it  in  mind." 

"You  are  right,"  said  the  other,  setting  his  teeth, 
"  I  mustn't  be  weak.  At  any  rate,  I'll  try  not  to  be. 
It  is  worded  with  skill,"  he  added  in  a  calmer  tone. 

"Yes,  it  is  the  work  of  a  practised  hand.  And  it 
comes  at  the  psychological  moment.  The  whole 
thing  is  very  nicely  calculated." 

"Do  you  think  it  will  do  harm.'*" 

"It  is  bound  to  do  a  certain  amount  of  harm. 
This  is  a  nation  of  Pharisees.  It  gives  your  enemies 
an  enormous  pull  just  at  the  time  when  they  can 
use  it  best." 

"Do  you  see  the  finger  of  Rockingham  in  it-f*" 

"No,  let  us  do  him  that  justice.  He  is  not  the  man 
to  fraternize  with  the  scum.  He  has  his  own  private 
code  of  friponnerie,  but  he  never  forgets  that  by 
birth  he  is  a  gentleman." 

" I  am  glad  you  think  that,"  said  the  other.  "One 
has  rather  felt  of  late  that  he  was  not  a  man  likely  to 
be  troubled  by  any  kind  of  scruple." 

"He  would  draw  the  line  at  the  G.P.,  at  any  rate." 

Mr.  Grundy  looked  at  his  watch. 

"A  quarter  to  one!  A  five  minutes'  walk!  I'm 
afraid  that  won't  give  us  much  of  an  appetite  for  our 
luncheon." 


XX 

IT  was  four  o'clock  when  Mr.  Draper  returned  to 
his  house.  His  step  sounded  light  in  the  hall; 
there  was  a  slight  look  of  defiance  in  him,  as  of  a  man 
on  terms  with  life.  When  he  entered  his  room  to 
complete  a  half-written  letter  which  the  arrival  of 
his  late  colleague  had  interrupted,  he  found  Evelyn 
Rockingham  there.  She  was  smoking  a  cigarette 
and  reading  the  Daily  Argus. 

Nicholson  in  receiving  her  had  not  thought  fit  to 
enlighten  her  as  to  whether  the  secret  had  yet  been 
divulged.  One  glance  at  the  Minister  as  he  entered 
told  her  that  it  had  not. 

She  held  up  the  newspaper. 

"Will  it  do  harm?"  she  asked.  As  she  spoke  she 
watched  his  face  with  covert  but  anxious  eyes. 

"Grundy  thinks  it  may  do  a  little,"  he  answered,  al- 
most in  a  tone  of  indifference.    "  Personally,  I  don't." 

She  drew  a  deep  sigh  of  relief. 

"I  am  glad  you  take  that  view." 

"One  may  be  wrong,  of  course,  but  the  whole  thing 
seems  to  be  keyed  up  far  too  high  for  a  matter  of 
that  kind  to  take  any  hold  on  events." 

169 


I70  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"  I  feel  sure  of  it.    Is  there  any  fresh  development?** 

The  Minister  did  not  reply  immediately. 

"Several,"  he  said  at  last.  "Grave  developments. 
Grundy  and  I  have  been  talking  things  over  with  a 
certain  person  the  last  three  hours." 

"Grundy  —  and  you!" 

"Yes,  the  lion  and  the  lamb.  Misfortune,  you 
know,  makes  strange  bedfellows." 

The  gravity  of  the  Minister  began  to  oppress  her. 

"Tell  me  what  has  happened?"  she  said. 

"Well,  in  the  first  place,  Rockingham  has  been 
asked  to  form  a  Government." 

She  blanched  a  little.  But  her  self-control  was 
complete. 

"When  was  he  asked  —  do  you  know?" 

"On  Saturday,  I  believe." 

"Has  he  accepted?" 

"No;  he  has  asked  for  a  week  in  which  to  consider 
his  decision.  He  has  been  given  until  Monday  at 
noon.** 

"After  the  week-end  meeting  of  the  cabal?'* 

"Yes,  I  suppose.  They  meet,  I  understand,  at  the 
King's  suggestion." 

"But  isn't  the  whole  scheme  impracticable?  On 
what  basis  can  Robert  form  a  Government?** 

"Well,  the  scheme  is  this  —  it  is  the  King's  own, 
and  he  accepts  full  responsibility  for  it  —  Rocking- 
ham to  be  Prime  Minister  in  a  new  coalition,  which 


THE  CRISIS  171 

is  to  include  Fern  and  Bayliss  of  the  Left,  and  also 
Grundy,  Bryant,  and  myself." 

"  But  on  the  face  of  it,  isn't  it  impossible?" 

"Well,  I  don't  know.  There  may  be  something 
in  it.  Fern  and  Bayliss,  it  seems,  are  willing  to  come 
in,  provided  a  guarantee  is  given  that  the  first  act  of 
the  new  Government  will  be  to  pass  the  Conciliation 
Bill,  although  not  necessarily  in  the  precise  form  in 
which  it  stands  at  present." 

"It  seems  incredible  that  Fern  and  Bayliss  can 
have  any  place  in  a  Rockingham  ministry." 

"Well,  it  is  the  King's  own  idea.  He  has  worked 
nobly  to  make  it  possible,  and  he  has  earned  respect 
all  round." 

"And  Grundy  and  Bryant  and  yourself?" 

"Grundy  doesn't  approve,  but  if  no  better  scheme 
can  be  devised  he  will  not  stand  in  the  way.  Bryant 
doesn't  see  why  is  shouldn't  be  tried.  Of  course  the 
whole  thing  is  a  palpable  makeshift.  But  no  alter- 
native has  appeared  on  the  horizon  at  present." 

"And  you?"  The  question  was  asked  eagerly. 
"How  do  you  feel  about  it?" 

"Well,  I  told  him  bluntly  that  I  didn't  see  how 
it  was  possible  for  two  men  to  work  together  each 
of  whom  had  a  profound  contempt  for  the  other." 

"Wasn't  the  good  man  a  little  shocked?" 

"Very  shocked,  I'm  afraid.  It  seemed  to  come 
to  him  like  a  blow.     But  it  had  to  be  said.     It  is 


172  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

no  use  trying  to  mince  matters,  even  if  Rome  happens 
to  be  burning.  Still,  as  I  said,  my  one  desire  was  to 
keep  the  thing  going,  and  to  that  end  I  would  do  my 
best  to  put  my  private  feelings  in  my  pocket  for  the 
time  being." 

"What  did  he  say  to  that.?" 

"Both  he  and  Grundy  were  rather  discomposed. 
It  occurred  to  me  that  it  was  perhaps  rather  selfish 
and  egotistical  to  feel  so  strongly  when  everthing  was 
hanging  in  the  balance.  But  it  is  the  way  I  am  made. 
I  can't  conceal  my  wound." 

"Is  it  that  you  hold  Rockingham  responsible  for 
this?" 

Her  reference  was  to  the  Daily  Argus^  which  was 
still  in  her  hand. 

"Yes,  indirectly.  And  if  one  day  I  can  punish  him 
without  punishing  others  I  intend  to  do  it." 

"But  in  the  meantime  you  consent  to  sink  the 
personal  equation  in  the  common  good.^*" 

"As  far  as  it  may  be  possible  to  do  so.  I  said  I 
would  do  my  best.  Thereupon  Grundy  and  I  were 
asked  to  do  down  on  Sunday  to  confer  with  the 
cabal." 

"You  — atCloudesleyl" 

"Yes  —  by  command.  It  all  seems  rather  ironical. 
By  the  way,  Aline  is  still  there  and  I've  had  no  word 
as  to  when  she  intends  to  return." 

"When  did  you  see  her  or  hear  from  her  last?" 


THE  CRISIS  173 

"  I  last  saw  her  ten  days  ago,  when  I  set  out  for  the 
North.  And  I've  heard  no  word  of  her  since.  But 
to  return  to  this  proposal  that  we  should  go  down 
to  Cloudesley  on  Sunday.  I  should  have  much  pre- 
ferred a  meeting  here  in  London;  but  every  hour 
counts,  and  the  thing  is  to  be  kept  as  secret  as  pos- 
sible until  all  the  details  are  adjusted,  so  that  the 
whole  scheme  can  be  laid  dramatically  before  the 
country." 

"Why  dramatically?" 

"In  order  to  drive  home, I  suppose, its  far-reaching 
significance  to  the  bosoms  and  the  businesses  of  men." 

"Then  it  is  fait  accompli .''" 

"Yes,  I  fear,  unless  there  is  a  hitch  at  the  eleventh 
hour." 

"Have  you  actually  given  your  decision.''" 

"No,  I  have  not.  I  have  asked  for  forty-eight 
hours  in  which  fully  to  consider  the  proposal.  I 
found  it  impossible  to  decide  at  once.  In  fact,  I 
was  not  asked  to  do  so.  It  may  be,  after  all,  that 
the  old  Adam  will  prove  too  much  for  my  patriot- 
ism." 

As  the  conversation  proceeded  Evelyn  Rockingham 
had  become  increasingly  perplexed,  increasingly 
unhappy.  And  now  she  gave  expression  to  the 
thought  that  was  dominating  her  mind. 

"There  is  one  thing  I  see  clearly,"  she  said.  "It 
is  that  you  have  broken  through  their  defences. 


174  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

They  have  done  all  in  their  power  to  keep  you  out, 
but  it  has  now  been  brought  home  to  them  that  you 
are  indispensable  to  any  Government  that  may  be 
formed.  That  being  the  case,  why  not  dictate  your 
own  terms  instead  of  accepting  theirs." 
The  Minister  pondered. 

"The  point  is  an  important  one,"  he  said.  "And 
you  are  very  probably  right.  At  any  rate  I  have 
given  no  definite  answer;  I  stand  pledged  to  nothing. 
Certainly  I  don't  intend  to  enter  a  Rockingham  min- 
istry unless  I  am  thoroughly  convinced  that  there  is 
no  alternative  which  can  avail  the  country." 

"But  there  is  an  alternative.  This  is  their  method 
of  confessing  the  unpalatable  fact  that  you  are  indis- 
pensable. Why  not  form  your  own  Government  on 
your  own  terms?" 

The  Minister  shook  his  head  and  smiled  rather 
sadly. 

"That  Is  a  large  order.  This  thing  must  be 
thought  out.  In  the  meantime  every  hour  counts. 
There  are  a  number  of  alarming  developments  in 
the  country.  There  are  all  kinds  of  rumours  in 
circulation.  It  is  said  that  the  League  has  carefully 
prepared  Its  plans  for  a  great  coup,  and  that  it  may 
play  it  at  any  moment.  We  may  be  in  the  throes 
of  civil  war  by  the  end  of  the  week." 

"Well,  poor  dear  Robert,  as  I  read  his  character, 
is  not  the  man  to  cope  with  it." 


THE  CRISIS  175 

"No,  but  the  point  is  that  the  blow  has  not  yet 
fallen.  If  we  can  only  contrive  to  patch  up  an 
honourable  truce  before  it  does,  so  much  the  better 
for  us  and  so  much  the  worse  for  the  League." 

"Yes,  but  the  blow  has  been  predicted  any  time 
these  two  years." 

"Well,  here  is  its  opportunity.  And  we  can't 
afford  to  delay." 

Evelyn  Rockingham  rose  from  her  chair.  Her 
face  was  vivid  with  excitement. 

"Yes,  one  quite  sees  that.  One  respects  your 
scruples.  One  understands  that  you  don't  play  for 
yourself.  But  the  point  I  want  to  urge  is,  that  if 
you  do  play  for  yourself  you  play  for  the  country." 

Again  he  shook  his  head. 

"That  is  where  I  am  by  no  means  so  clear.  Splen- 
did work  has  been  done  during  the  past  week.  The 
King  has  shown  himself  to  be  a  statesman  of  a  high 
order.  He  has  made  his  wishes  clearly  known  and 
if  it  is  possible  to  respect  them  one  feels  that  sacrifices 
should  be  made  to  that  end." 

"Yes,  I  quite  see  that,"  she  said  tensely.  "But 
the  point  is,  who  can  help  the  country  most  —  you 
or  Robert.?" 

"They  evidently  think  Robert." 

"  rA<?y,"  she  said  contemptuously.  "They  know 
they  are  beaten  and  are  now  playing  to  save  their 
faces.     Robert  means  nothing  to  anyone;  he  stands 


176  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

for  nothing;  he  has  never  done  a  hand's  turn  for  the 
country;  he  hasn't  a  constructive  idea  in  his  head. 
Don't  be  magnanimous!  You  have  forced  them  to 
call  you  in  to  help  them;  you  are  in  a  position  to 
exact  your  own  terms,  and  your  terms  must  be  that 
you  are  Prime  Minister. 

Again  Mr.  Draper  shook  his  head. 

"Forgive  me,  my  dear  Evelyn,  but  isn't  that  the 
reasoning  of  an  ambitious  woman?" 

"It  is  the  reasoning  of  a  woman,  certainly,"  she 
allowed,  her  face  alive  with  emotion,  "and  of  a 
woman  ambitious  for  her  country.  I  am  Robert's 
wife,  and  I  know  his  worth  compared  with  yours. 
I  don't  wish  to  pay  you  a  vain  compliment,  but  as 
an  Englishwoman  —  unenfranchised  though  I  am 
—  I  desire  that  the  strongest  and  ablest  man 
in  the  kingdom  should  take  charge  and  have  a 
free  hand  in  one  of  the  darkest  hours  we  have  ever 
known." 

The  Minister  began  to  pace  the  room  uneasily. 

"But  assuming  all  that,"  he  said,  "may  I  not  still 
be  able  to  assert  myself?" 

"  In  time,  no  doubt.  But  you  will  find  it  so  much 
more  difficult  if  you  yield  to  them  now.  And  you 
must  not  forget  that  they  will  always  be  intriguing 
against  you.  They  will  use  you  to  serve  their  turn, 
but  they  will  always  be  looking  out  for  the  moment 
when  they  can  cast  you  off.     They  only  invite  you  to 


THE  CRISIS  177 

come  In  because  at  the  present  moment  no  form  of 
government  is  possible  without  you.  You  have  got 
the  whip-hand.  It  will  be  sheer  unwisdom  lightly  to 
forego  your  advantage." 

"I  have  no  intention  of  doing  that,"  said  the 
Minister.  "But  I  mustn't  use  it  immorally.  What- 
ever happens,  the  country  must  come  first;  we  are 
none  of  us  more  than  pawns  in  the  game.  Moreover, 
time  is  all-important;  and  I  hardly  feel  equal  to  in- 
curring the  responsibility  of  overthrowing  a  well- 
thought-out  scheme  unless  I  can  be  quite  sure  that 
the  whole  thing  rests  on  a  fallacy." 

"How  would  you  define  *a  fallacy'  in  this  particular 
instance.'*" 

"I  should  consider  the  scheme  to  be  based  on  a 
fallacy  if  clear  proof  could  be  adduced  that  such 
heterogeneous  elements  would  find  it  impossible  to 
work  together." 

"Do  you  doubt  it  for  one  moment.'"' 

The  Minister  passed  his  hand  across  his  forehead, 
like  one  who  suffers  almost  intolerable  pain. 

"Please  don't  press  the  point  too  hard,"  he  said 
with  a  rather  pathetic  anxiety.  "Nobody  realizes 
more  fully  than  I  do  how  nearly  hopeless  it  is.  But 
there  is  always  the  chance  that  we  may  find  some 
common  ground  on  which  to  stand." 

"Impossible!  Consider,  to  begin  with,  two  such 
men  as  Robert  and  yourself.      Is  there  any  common 


178  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

ground  on  which  you  can  stand  ?  You  know  him  to 
be  false  right  through." 

"Yes,  I  feel  all  that.  But  he  has  earned  the  respect 
and  the  confidence  of  better  men  than  I." 

"No,  I  won't  allow  you  to  be  magnanimous.  A 
great  mistake  is  about  to  be  made  by  a  very  admir- 
able and  well-meaning  person,  but  you  must  be  no 
party  to  it.  Whatever  happens  you  cannot  join  a 
Rockingham  ministry." 

"Cannot.?" 

"Cannot." 

"Isn't  it  too  big  a  word?" 

Her  face  had  grown  white  and  set. 

"Suppose  I  justify  it?"  she  said  breathing  hard. 
**  Suppose  I  put  the  proof  in  your  hand  ? " 

"Impossible!" 

"  Isn't  it  too  big  a  word  ?"  she  retorted.  "  Besides, 
does  it  really  need  proving?" 

"Yes,  I  think  it  does,"  he  said  very  gravely.  "I 
make  no  secret  of  the  fact  that  I  distrust  Rocking- 
ham, that  I  despise  him,  but  I  think  proof  is  needed 
that  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  sit  round  the  same 
table." 

Now  she  was  as  white  as  death. 

"Are  you  so  blind  that  you  have  no  suspicions?" 

"A  wise  man  never  indulges  in  suspicions,"  he  said. 

"A  very  dangerous  doctrine,  my  friend,"  was  her 
answer. 


THE  CRISIS  179 

The  Minister  shook  his  head. 

"Evelyn,"  he  said  very  gravely,  "please  under- 
stand that  I  never  let  myself  deal  in  such  things  as 
suspicions.  The  estimate  I  have  formed  of  Rocking- 
ham's character  is  not  flattering,  but  I  don't  go 
beyond  that.  What,  pray,  have  I  to  be  suspicious 
of?" 

"Well,  since  you  don't  deal  in  suspicions,"  she  said 
with  a  touch  of  rather  venomous  irony,  "there  is, 
perhaps,  no  need  to  answer  the  question." 

"Precisely,"  he  said,  with  an  air  of  indifference. 

But  the  air  of  indifference  whipped  up  all  the 
woman  in  her. 

"Well,"  she  said  slowly,  with  biting  emphasis, 
perhaps  you  will  prefer  to  deal  with  hard  facts." 

"Certainly,"  he  said.  Her  tone  had  aroused  his 
curiosity,  but  he  kept  it  well  in  hand.  "One  always 
prefers  to  deal  with  hard  facts  if  they  happen  to  be 
available.     We  cannot  have  too  many  of  those." 

"That  is  to  say,  you  are  never  afraid  of  them.'*" 

"No,"  he  said;  "one  is  never  afraid  of  hard  facts. 
Why  should  one  be  ? " 

"Doesn't  it  rather  depend  on  the  nature  of  them?" 

"Doesn't  it  depend,  my  dear  Evelyn,  rather 
upon  the  nature  of  the  person  to  whom  they  are 
addressed?" 

"Perhaps  —  it  may  be  so." 

In  spite  of  her  iron  will  she  was  terribly  excited 


i8o  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

now.  But  he  was  too  obtuse  to  perceive  how  hard 
emotion  was  driving  her. 

"Evelyn,"  he  said,  "why  play  with  words?  Rome 
is  burning.  There  is  more  than  work  enough  for 
every  one  of  her  citizens.  If  you  are  in  a  position  to 
adduce  any  fact  —  mind,  I  say  fact  —  why  it  is  impos- 
sible for  Rockingham  and  myself  to  work  together, 
in  the  name  of  the  country  I  call  upon  you  to  adduce 
it." 

For  a  little  time  she  was  silent.  Then  she  tried  to 
speak,  and  her  voice  failed. 

"Well,  my  dear  Evelyn?" 

He  was  still  imperturbable,  still  perfectly  self- 
secure. 

"You  invite  me  to  lay  the  facts  on  the  table  before 
you?"  she  said  in  a  voice  strangely  thin  and  high. 

"Nay,"  he  said  with  a  calm  smile,  "I  do  more  than 
that.  If  you  possess  any  proof  of  your  assertion 
that  it  is  impossible  for  Rockingham  and  myself  to 
work  together  for  the  common  good,  I  do  more  than 
ask  for  it.     I  demand  it." 

By  now  she  was  trembling  violently. 

"Very  well,"  she  said,  "please  ring  that  bell." 


XXI 

MR.  DRAPER  touched  the  bell.  Nicholson  en- 
tered in  answer  to  the  summons.  Something 
in  the  aspect  of  Evelyn  Rockingham  caused  the 
servant  to  close  the  door  behind  him.  He  then  stood 
in  a  kind  of  proud  humility,  his  face  averted  from 
his  master. 

"Is  it  Nicholson  you  wish  to  see?"  asked  the 
Minister,  breaking  a  silence  that  was  painful. 

She  nodded,  not  trusting  herself  to  speak.  After 
a  further  moment  of  silence,  the  butler  plunged  his 
hand  into  the  breast-pocket  of  his  coat.  He  drew 
out  two  letters  and  handed  them  to  his  master. 

"Sir,"  he  said, speaking  with  a  self-control  that  was 
remarkable,  "one  of  these  is  a  note  that  was  left  for 
you  by  my  mistress  when  she  went  away  last  Friday 
week.  I  did  not  forward  it  to  you,  nor  did  I  give  it 
to  you  immediately  upon  your  return.  The  time 
did  not  seem  favourable.  The  other  letter  is  the  one 
you  gave  me  to  post  last  evening.  In  the  circum- 
stances I  thought  it  right  not  to  post  it.  I  may  say, 
sir,  that  in  both  cases  I  accept  full  responsibility  for 
my  action." 

i8i 


1 82  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

The  Minister  did  not  say  anything  in  reply,  but 
stood  holding  the  letters,  an  odd  look  upon  his  face. 

The  butler  left  the  room. 

"Was  it  by  your  advice,"  the  Minister  asked 
Evelyn  when  they  were  left  together,  "that  Nichol- 
son has  done  as  he  has  done?" 

"In  withholding  these  letters,  do  you  mean?" 

"Yes." 

"I  will  tell  you  what  happened.  I  did  not  know 
•of  the  existence  of  either  of  these  letters  until  last 
Jiight  about  eleven  o'clock  when  he  came  to  me  for 
advice." 

"What  advice  did  you  give?" 

"I  advised  him  to  give  them  to  you  at  the  first 
favourable  opportunity." 

"What  was  his  reason  for  withholding  them?" 

"His  fear  of  the  consequences.  He  realizes  that 
all  depends  on  you.  Yesterday,  upon  your  return, 
worn  out  and  overwrought,  he  could  not  trust  you 
with  Aline's  letter?" 

"That  is  to  say,  he  knows  its  contents?" 

"I  think  he  has  made  a  guess." 

"Which  he  has  communicated  to  you?" 

"No,  not  in  so  many  words.  But  having  regard 
to  all  the  circumstances  I  have  been  obliged  to  infer 
certain  things." 

"How  long  have  you  been  cognizant  of  these  cir- 
cumstances?" 


THE  CRISIS  183 

"For  some  little  time  past,  but  I  allowed  myself 
to  draw  no  inferences  until  last  night." 

"I  see,"  he  said  in  a  musing  tone. 

He  still  held  the  letter  unopened  in  his  hand.  She 
calmly  watched  the  working  of  the  powerful  will 
behind  the  unimpassioned  mask  that  was  presented 
to  her.  She  felt  it  to  be  a  wonderful  exhibition 
of  self-control. 

"I  would  like  to  ask  you  one  more  question, 
Evelyn,"  he  said  gently,  with  a  perceptible  lightening 
of  tone.  "You  must  forgive  my  asking  so  many, 
but  do  you  approve  of  Nicholson's  action?" 

"I  have  lain  awake  all  night  to  consider  it,"  she 
said.  "And  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that, 
taking  all  the  circumstances  into  consideration, 
special  and  peculiar  as  they  are  and  having  regard  to 
the  man  himself  and  the  kind  of  man  he  is,  his  action 
is  to  be  defended." 

"That  is  to  say,  that  had  you  been  in  Nicholson's 
place,  you  would  have  felt  justified  in  acting  as  he 
has  done?" 

"Yes  —  had  I  been  Nicholson." 

He  looked  at  her  searchingly. 

"You  would  have  been  tempted  to  think  so 
meanly  of  me?" 

"No,"  she  answered;  "it  is  hardly  fair  to  put  it  that 
way.  Nicholson,  as  I  understand  him,  is  a  man 
obsessed  by  an  idea.     In  his  eyes  you  are  the  instru- 


1 84  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

ment  chosen  by  Providence  to  save  his  country.  At 
the  most  crucial  of  all  moments  he  is  called  upon 
suddenly,  by  a  set  of  perverse  and  untoward  circum- 
stances, to  imperil  the  efficiency  of  that  instrument, 
and  wisely  and  rightly,  and  I  think  even  nobly,  he 
declines  to  do  it." 

"How  admirably  you  play  advocatus  diaboli.'^ 

As  the  Minister  spoke,  almost  in  a  tone  of  jest- 
ing, he  slipped  both  the  letters  into  his  pocket, 
unopened. 

His  self-restraint  amazed  her.  She  had  the  wit  to 
take  her  own  cue  from  it. 

"By  the  way,  you  got  my  card  for  Friday  even- 
ing?"   she  said. 

"What  is  the  object?"  he  asked.  His  tone  was 
one  of  polite  interest.  "Is  it  meant  for  a  kind  of 
counter-demonstration  ? " 

"Well,  hardly  —  at  Rockingham  House!  Cards 
were  sent  out,  you  know,  before  these  things  came  to 
pass.  And  there  really  seems  no  reason  why  we 
should  cancel  a  perfectly  innocent  function." 

"But  think  of  the  amount  of  water  that  has  lately 
flowed  under  London  Bridge." 

"I  know.  But  my  prophetic  soul  seems  to  tell  me 
that  we  of  the  faith  ought  all  to  keep  in  touch." 

"Who  are  the  faithful?" 

"Grundy  and  Bryant  have  promised  to  come. 
The  Centre  will  be  well  represented.     And  I  think 


THE  CRISIS  185 

Diplomacy,  the  Services,  and  the  Army  Council  will 
be  there  in  force." 

"Quite  a  representative  gathering,  eh,  of  the  pro- 
fessional interests ?     A  meeting  of  business  men." 

"Yes  —  *To  meet  the  Right  Honourable  James 
Draper.'  " 

"Did  you  put  that  on  your  cards.'*" 

"No,  it  hardly  seemed  wise  —  at  Rockingham 
House!  But  it  will  be  Hamlet  without  the  Prince 
if  you  don't  show  up." 

The  Minister  laughed  rather  wryly. 

"We  may  all  be  blown  up  sky-high  by  Friday 
evening,"  he  said.  "Those  who  are  the  most  familiar 
with  the  signs  and  portents  predict  that  Friday  has 
been  chosen  as  the  Judgment  Day." 

"Well,  my  dear  James,"  she  said,  "if  you  are  alive 
and  well,  if  we  are  all  alive  and  well,  I  want  you  to 
promise  to  attend  my  party  on  Friday  evening,  not 
later  then  eleven  o'clock." 

He  did  not  reply  immediately,  and  then  he  said: 
"I  think  perhaps  it  would  be  rash  to  make  any 
promises  for  Friday.  There  is  no  saying  what  will 
have  happened  by  then." 

The  almost  imperceptible  change  in  the  tone  seemed 
somehow  to  strike  into  her.  She  looked  at  him  rather 
wanly.     But  the  impassive  face  was  still  as  it  was. 

"At  any  rate,"  she  said,  "I  shall  expect  you.  I 
depend  upon  you.     I  demand  a  promise." 


1 86  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Very  well,"  he  said.  And  now  there  was  a  subtle 
quality  in  his  tone  that  struck  right  through  her. 
"Very  well,  Evelyn  —  if  I  am  alive  and  well." 

Nothing  further  passed.  Perhaps  it  was  that  she 
felt  her  nerve  to  be  failing.  He  escorted  her  to  the 
hall  door,  where  her  car  awaited  her,  and  in  the 
fading  light  of  the  February  afternoon  he  remained 
a  sombre,  ghostlike  figure  watching  her  drive  away. 

An  hour  later  she  returned,  but  did  not  penetrate 
farther  than  the  entrance  hall,  where  she  held  a  brief 
colloquy  with  Nicholson. 

"I  want  you  to  keep  me  informed,"  she  said,  "of 
anything  that  may  happen.  My  number  on  the 
telephone  is  049  Mayfair." 

The  butler  promised  to  do  so. 

"Where  is  Mr.  Draper  now.?"  she  asked. 

"He  is  locked  in  his  study,  your  Grace.  He  has 
given  strict  instructions  that  no  one,  not  even  Mr. 
Renshaw,  is  to  disturb  him.  He  is  at  home  to  no 
one." 

The  face  of  the  butler  was  livid.  His  emotion 
threatened  to  overmaster  him. 

As  Evelyn  Rockingham  was  about  to  return  to  her 
brougham,  with  a  sudden  impulse  of  feminine  kind- 
ness she  offered  her  hand  to  the  old  man. 

He  kissed  it  reverently.  A  single  tear  stained  her 
glove. 


XXII 

THE  next  afternoon  about  five  o'clock  Evelyn 
Rockingham  came  to  Queen  Anne's  Gate  for 
the  third  time  that  day.  She  was  received  in  the 
morning-room  byMr.  Renshaw,  the  private  secretary. 

He  was  an  able,  matter-of-fact  young  man  with 
that  definite,  assured,  persistently  mundane  outlook 
upon  the  world  that  is  in  itself  a  guarantee  of  success 
in  any  sphere  of  action  in  which  its  possessor  may 
engage. 

"Does  he  still  keep  his  room?"  she  asked.  The 
private  secretary  answered  rather  curtly  in  the 
affirmative. 

"And  the  door  is  still  locked.?" 

"It  was  when  I  tried  it  half  an  hour  ago,"  said  the 
young  man. 

"Did  you  speak  to  him?" 

"Yes,  I  knocked  upon  the  door,  and  asked  him 
whether  he  would  not  take  some  food." 

"And  he  answered  you?" 

"Yes;  he  said  when  he  required  food  he  would 
ring  for  it." 

"In  what  manner  did  he  answer?" 

187 


i88  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

**  In  quite  a  normal,  ordinary  voice,  I  thought." 

Evelyn  seemed  to  be  reassured  a  little. 

"  I  would  like  to  ask  you  one  question,  Mr.  Ren- 
shaw,"  she  said.  "As  a  detached  observer,  in  what 
light  does  Mr.  Draper's  behaviour  appear  to  you? 
Knowing  him  intimately  as  you  do,  is  there  anything 
in  especial  you  are  able  to  deduce  from  it?" 

The  young  man  did  not  answer  the  quest  on  until 
he  had  spent  some  little  time  in  reflection.  And  then 
he  said  with  a  melancholy  smile:  "I  confess  I  am 
utterly  defeated  by  it." 

"Nicholson,  by  any  chance,  has  not  spoken  to  you 
on  the  subject?" 

"Nicholson?    Oh,  no." 

His  surprised  tone  convicted  her  of  unwariness. 
She  hastened  to  cover  her  indiscretion  as  well  as  she 
could. 

"  He  seems  very  upset,  poor  old  thing." 

"Nicholson?" 

The  tone  of  surprise  had  grown  more  positive. 
She  beat  a  retreat,  hasty  and  perhaps  a  little  igno- 
minious. 

"Has  the  King  sent  again?" 

"Yes,  a  quarter  of  an  hour  ago." 

"And  you  communicated  the  fact  to  him  through 
the  locked  door?" 

"Yes." 

"And  his  answer?" 


THE  CRISIS  189 

Mr.  Renshaw's  own  answer  was  to  look  his  visitor 
steadily  in  the  eyes.  He  had  a  decidedly  resolute 
and  determined  mouth. 

"I  hope  you  don't  think  I'm  impertinent,"  she  said. 

"Not  at  all,"  said  the  young  man,  summoning  a 
very  well-bred  air  to  his  assistance. 

A  red  spot  appeared  in  the  centre  of  her  cheek. 
She  was  keenly  chagrined  by  the  feeling  that  she  had 
been  taking  a  little  too  much  for  granted. 

"You  see  I  am  a  very  old  friend,"  she  said. 

The  young  man  inclined  his  head  slightly  and  very 
stiffly. 

"A  very  old  friend,  Mr.  Renshaw.  I  cannot  bear 
the  thought  of  anything  happening  to  him,  particu- 
larly at  a  time  like  this." 

The  young  man  again  inclined  his  head. 

"Believe  me,"  she  said  upon  a  note  of  the  sweetest 
humility,  "I  would  not  appear  impertinent  for  the 
world.  I  would  not  appear  in  any  way  officious,  but 
I  realize  as  few  people  can  the  awful  importance  of 
all  this.     I  hope  I  make  myself  clear.''" 

"Admirably  clear,"  said  the  young  man  with  an 
aloofness  of  manner  equally  admirable. 

"Do  you  feel  disposed  to  tell  me  what  Mr.  Draper's 
answer  was  to  the  King's  second  summons." 

"Certainly,"  said  the  young  man.  "Mr.  Draper's 
answer  was  that  he  much  regretted  that  he  was  not 
sufficiently  well  to  leave  his  room." 


I90  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Could  you  have  told  that  anything  was  amiss 
from  the  tone  or  the  manner  in  which  the  answer  was 
given  ? " 

"There  was  nothing  as  far  as  one  could  judge  to 
suggest  any  kind  of  mental  disturbance,"  said  the 
private  secretary,  gravely  measuring  his  words. 

"Tell  me,  Mr.  Renshaw  —  if  you  will  forgive  my 
terrible  anxiety  —  do  you  yourself  feel,  as  one  who 
knows  Mr.  Draper  intimately,  that  he  is  undergoing 
some  process  of  mental  disturbance?" 

Mr.  Renshaw  took  time  for  his  answer. 

"I  undoubtedly  do,"  he  said. 

"You  would  say  his  behaviour  within  the  past 
twenty-four  hours  is  inconsistent  with  a  perfectly 
normal  mind?" 

Again  Mr.  Renshaw  took  time  for  his  answer. 

"As  I  envisage  a  perfectly  normal  mind,"  he  said, 
"I  feel  bound  to  say  yes." 

"Has  he  ever  acted  in  this  way  before  within  your 
knowledge  of  him?" 

"Never,  within  my  knowledge." 

"Is  there  anything  to  which  you  can  ascribe  this 
present  condition  ?  —  if  you  will  forgive  this  seeming 
impertinence." 

"I  would  be  inclined  to  say,  myself,"  said  the 
young  man,  speaking  slowly  and  with  hesitation, 
"that  it  is  the  result  of  overwork.  The  strain  last 
week  must  have  been  fearful." 


THE  CRISIS  191 

"By  the  way,  you  didn't  accompany  him  upon  his 
tour?" 

"Only  to  Derby  and  Sheffield." 

"And  he  made  wonderful  speeches?" 

"The  two  that  I  heard  will  always  stand  out  as  the 
most  wonderful  in  my  recollection.  I  don't  say  that 
merely  because  they  are  the  freshest."  The  official 
manner  was  losing  a  little  of  its  chill  at  last.  "It 
was  as  old  Sir  George  Rose,  who  took  the  chair  at 
Sheffield,  said,  he  spoke  like  an  evangel  of  righteous- 
ness. It  sounds  rather  like  cant,  I  dare  say,  but 
somehow  it  seems  exactly  to  describe  the  effect  that 
he  made." 

"And  you  feel  that  nature  has  been  overdriven, 
and  that  he  is  now  suffering  a  very  severe  reaction?" 

Once  more  the  young  man  took  time  for  his 
answer. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "it  seems  to  be  the  only  explana- 
tion that  can  meet  the  case." 

As  he  answered  slowly  and  deliberately  their  eyes 
met.  Hers,  softly  luminous  in  spite  of  the  tears 
they  had  sought  in  vain  to  shed,  seemed  to  pierce 
right  through  those  of  the  young  man  and  to  enter 
the  hard,  limited  and  secure  soul  that  lay  behind. 

She  was  more  than  a  little  afraid.  He  was  a  man 
with  whom  no  sort  of  liberty  could  be  taken.  But 
desperation  and  an  intolerable  anguish  of  mind  forced 
her  to  accept  the  risk. 


192  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Mr.  Renshaw,"  she  said,  "there  is  just  one  other 
question  I  beg  to  be  allowed  to  ask." 

The  clear  gray  eyes  looked  at  her  unfalteringly. 

"  I  merely  ask  it  because  —  because  I  must.  If  we 
are  to  save  him  —  if  we  are  to  save  England  — 
there  must  be  no  secrets  between  us.  I  hope  you 
understand." 

He  remained  motionless. 

"The  question  I  ask  is  this:  When  his  wife  left 
this  house  for  Cloudesley  last  Friday  week,  were 
you  aware  that  she  had  left  it  never  to  return .''" 

The  young  man  kept  a  tight  hold  upon  his  com- 
posure. 

"Having  regard  to  the  answers  I  have  already 
given,"  he  said  icily,  "it  hardly  seems  necessary  that 
I  should  answer  the  question." 

"Forgive  me,"  she  said  quickly,  "I  ought  not  to 
have  asked  it." 

He  stood  tense  in  every  line.  But  a  moment  after- 
ward her  note  of  appeal  had  conquered  him. 

"Perhaps  you  ought  not,"  he  said,  "but  I'm  glad 
you  did.     That  is,  if  it  is  right  that  you  should." 

"I  hope  it  is.  It  may  not  be,  but  I  think  if  we  are 
to  help  him  we  must  both  fully  realize  our  task." 

He,  in  his  turn,  now  became  the  questioner. 

"He  was  informed  yesterday  afternoon  about  five 
o'clock,"  she  said  in  answer. 

"By  whom?" 


THE  CRISIS  193 

She  briefly  told  the  story  of  Nicholson  coming  to 
her  with  the  letters. 

"It  was  really  at  my  instigation,  you  see,  that 
Nicholson  divulged  the  secret  when  he  did.  And 
now  the  grievous  problem  that  haunts  me  is,  was 
Nicholson's  first  instinct  after  all  the  right  one  in  the 
circumstances,  and  ought  things  to  have  been  left  as 
they  were.?" 

They  looked  steadily  at  one  another  through  the 
fading  light  of  the  room.  The  breath  of  each  was 
coming  quickly. 

"Is  that  the  question  you  ask  me?^^  he  said  at  last. 

She  turned  aside  swiftly,  with  a  little  cry. 

"No,  it  is  not.  Because  —  because  I  don't  think 
I  could  bear  the  answer." 


XXIII 

FOR  some  little  time  they  stood  looking  at  one 
another  in  an  embarrassed  silence.  Neither 
knew  what  to  say  to  the  other.  Each  had  a  sense  of 
futility,  a  sense  of  impotence,  that  was  overwhelming. 

In  crises  of  this  kind  it  is  the  woman  as  a  rule  who 
speaks  first. 

"Is  there  any  single  thing  we  can  do.'"'  asked 
Evelyn  Rockingham,  and  she  seemed  a  little  over- 
come by  the  futility  of  the  question. 

"I  don't  in  the  least  know,"  said  the  private 
secretary,  equally  conscious  of  impotence. 

"  It  is  too  early  to  consult  a  doctor .''  Do  you  think 
he  could  help  us  if  we  did  .'* " 

The  young  man  shook  his  head  sadly. 

"I  am  out  of  my  depth,"  he  said.  "I  have  no 
advice  to  give." 

Fear  seemed  to  take  possession  of  her. 

"Oh,  I  hope  he  has  not  let  go!"  she  said. 

"That  is  just  what  one  doesn't  know,"  said  the 
private  secretary,  "and  it  is  just  what  no  one  can 
tell  us." 

Urged  by  a  sudden  impulse   she  left  the  room. 

194 


THE  CRISIS  195 

She  crossed  the  dimly  lighted  hall,  making  her  way 
stealthily  into  a  dark  recess  in  one  of  its  distant  cor- 
ners in  which  was  a  curtained  door. 

She  knocked  gently  upon  the  panel.  She  called 
the  name  of  the  Minister  softly. 

There  was  no  answer. 

"James,  it  is  I!  —  Evelyn!" 

There  was  still  no  answer. 

She  pressed  her  ear  to  the  panel.  Strain  her  senses 
as  she  might  she  could  not  detect  a  sound  within. 

She  struck  the  door  harder.  She  raised  her  voice 
louder.     Again  she  spoke  his  name. 

There  was  not  a  sound. 

A  kind  of  nausea  came  suddenly  upon  her. 

"James!  It  is  I  —  Evelyn!" 

The  silence  gripped  her  strangely.  She  felt  herself 
to  be  turning  a  little  faint. 

Involuntarily  she  grasped  the  door-handle  and 
turned  it.  With  a  thrill  almost  akin  to  terror  she 
discovered  that  the  door  had  yielded. 

Half  dazed  with  a  sudden  unreasoning  dread  of  the 
unknown  she  discovered  that  the  door  had  come  open 
and  that  she  stood  on  the  threshold  of  a  room  com- 
pletely dark. 

Again  she  cried  his  name,  and  now  with  a  sob. 

There  was  no  response. 

Quivering  from  head  to  foot  she  groped  her  way  in. 
She  fumbled  for  the  wall  and  for  the  button  of  the 


196  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

electric  light,  but  could  find  neither.  She  stumbled 
forward  through  the  darkness,  and  knocked  over  a 
chair.  The  fire  was  out  in  the  grate.  No  ray  of 
light  penetrated  the  curtained  window  or  the  cur- 
tained doorway  through  which  she  had  entered. 

It  was  like  entering  a  tomb.  Even  her  hand  was 
not  visible  when  she  held  it  before  her  face.  She  was 
almost  overmastered  by  a  desire  to  scream. 

She  stood  to  listen.  There  was  a  dead  silence 
except  for  the  ticking  of  her  nerves.  These  formed 
the  only  living  presence  —  of  that  she  was  sure. 

Cold  and  faint  with  a  terror  she  had  never  known 
before,  she  turned  to  grope  her  way  out  of  the  room. 
A  chair  fell  to  the  carpet  with  a  thud.  By  now  all  her 
bearings  were  lost.  There  was  nothing  to  guide  her. 
She  could  not  tell  in  which  direction  lay  the  door,  the 
window,  the  walls,  or  the  fireplace. 

Straining  every  nerve  she  stood  in  the  darkness  to 
listen,  but  could  only  hear  the  beating  of  her  heart. 
Then  she  grew  aware  of  the  loud  insistent  ticking  of 
a  clock  on  the  chimneypiece. 

"James  !"  she  cried 

At  the  sound  of  her  own  voice  she  darted  forward. 
She  fell  headlong  across  a  sofa.  Here  she  lay  help- 
less, struggling  as  If  In  the  clutch  of  a  nightmare  for 
the  vague,  intangible  thread  of  the  light  of  reason. 

How  long  she  lay  prone  she  didn't  know.  The 
clock  near  at  hand  on  the  chimneypiece  continued 


THE  CRISIS  197 

to  tick,  and  her  fluttered  nerves  in  a  sort  of  desperate 
orgy  were  in  unison  with  it.  And  then,  just  as  the 
will  began  to  totter,  there  was  the  sound  of  a  cur- 
tained door  opening  quite  near  to  her.  It  revolved 
stealthily;  there  were  muffled  groping  footfalls;  there 
was  a  faint  blur  of  light,  and  then  a  heavy  shadow; 
and  then  the  door  closed  again,  and  all  again  was 
darkness. 

As  she  lay  in  a  huddle  on  the  sofa  she  was  over- 
whelmed by  the  sense  of  a  presence  in  the  room. 

"Turn  up  the  light,  please,  whoever  you  are,"  she 
had  the  presence  of  mind  to  gasp. 

There  was  a  click  —  and  then  the  light. 

Nicholson,  a  figure  of  horror  and  consternation, 
was  seen  to  be  leaning  against  the  wall. 

"Oh,  it  is  you,  Nicholson,"  she  said,  rather  hys- 
terically. "I  have  done  such  a  stupid  thing.  I 
groped  my  way  in,  couldn't  find  the  light,  lost  my 
bearings  completely,  and  fell  over  this." 

"I  am  very  sorry,  your  Grace,"  said  the  old 
servant  in  a  rather  shattered  voice.  "I  —  I  didn't 
expect  to  find  your  Grace.     I  —  I  beg  your  pardon." 

"Do  you  know  where  Mr.  Draper  is?"  she  asked. 
"I  had  expected  to  find  him  here." 

"He  left  the  house  a  quarter  of  an  hour  ago,  your 
Grace,  while  you  were  in  conversation  with  Mr. 
Renshaw." 

"Do  you  know  where  he  has  gone?" 


198  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"  I  do  not,  your  Grace." 

"Or  when  he  is  likely  to  return?" 

"I  do  not,  your  Grace.  He  left  no  message  of 
any  kind." 

"How  did  he  seem.''" 

"That  I  cannot  say,  your  Grace.  I  had  only  just 
a  glimpse  of  him  as  he  went  out  of  the  hall  door." 

She  had  already  noticed  a  mysterious  imple- 
ment in  the  hand  of  the  butler.  Her  curiosity  was 
aroused,  particularly  as  he  was  at  pains  to  con- 
ceal the  implement  by  holding  it  behind  his  back. 
She  asked  him  what  it  was.  It  proved,  how- 
ever, to  be  nothing  more  formidable  than  a  screw- 
driver. 

Prosaic  as  was  the  nature  of  the  tool,  it  had  the 
power  further  to  stimulate  her  curiosity. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  with  it.?"  she  asked. 

The  question  disconcerted  the  old  man  completely. 

"Let  there  be  no  secrets  between  us.  Nicholson," 
she  said  in  a  tone  of  grave  gentleness. 

"There  shall  be  none,  your  Grace,"  said  the  old 
man  very  simply.  "The  truth  is  there  is  something 
locked  up  in  that  bureau  that  I  feel  ought  to  come 
out.  And  I  have  come  here  for  the  purpose  of  get- 
ting it  out." 

"Tell  me  what  it  is.?" 

"A  revolver  and  some  cartridges,  your  Grace." 

"Why  are  they  there.?" 


THE  CRISIS  199 

"We  were  troubled  with  burglars  along  the  street 
about  a  year  ago,  and  Mr.  Draper  thought  it  to  be 
his  duty  as  a  householder  to  take  precautions." 

"Well,  I  agree  with  you  that  it  would  be  wise  to 
get  them  out." 

Nicholson  was  of  opinion  that  they  were  in  the 
bottom  drawer  of  the  bureau,  which  was  locked.  He 
knelt  and  began  to  ply  the  screw-driver.  In  a  short 
time  the  drawer  was  open,  and  there  at  the  top  lay 
the  weapon  beside  a  cardboard  box. 

While  the  servant  was  still  on  his  knees  holding 
these  sinister  trophies  in  his  hands,  and  while  Evelyn 
Rockingham  was  bending  over  him  intently,  the  door 
of  the  room  opened,  and  the  Minister  entered  in  his 
usual  quiet  manner.  So  completely  were  the  two 
conspirators  absorbed  in  their  task  that  for  a  moment 
they  remained  wholly  unconscious  of  his  entrance. 


XXIV 

THEY  discovered  his  presence  with  a  surprise 
that  was  almost  painful.  It  was  impossible  to 
conceal  what  they  were  doing.  The  butler  rose  to 
his  feet  with  the  revolver  and  the  box  of  cartridges  in 
his  hands. 

Mr.  Draper  smiled  a  little. 

"I  think  you  are  quite  right,"  he  said  gently.  "It 
is  very  well  thought  of,  my  dear  fellow,  although  "  — 
he  smiled  gravely  — "the  peril  is  hardly  so  acute  as 
all  that." 

The  old  man  was  sustained  by  the  tone,  which  was 
calm  and  full  of  kindness. 

"Forgive  me,  sir,"  he  said.  "Perhaps  I  am  over- 
anxious. But  I  couldn't  bear  the  thought  of  these 
things  being  here." 

The  Minister  laid  a  hand  on  his  shoulder. 

"Quite  right,  my  dear  fellow,  quite  right.  Pray,  take 
charge  of  them.     They  will  be  better  in  your  care." 

The  butler  seized  the  moment  to  effect  an  escape 
with  his  trophies. 

"Dear  old  fellow!"  said  the  Minister  to  his  other 
friend,  when  they  were  left  together. 


THE  CRISIS  20I 

His  speech  was  perfectly  well  ordered.  Every- 
thing about  him  pointed  to  the  fact  that  his  mind 
was  under  control.  Fearful  as  was  the  soul  of 
Evelyn  Rockingham,  she  was  able  to  take  courage 
from  his  bearing.  Beyond  the  fact  that  he  had  the 
air  and  look  of  a  very  tired  man  there  was  hardly  a 
suggestion  of  strain. 

"I  hope  I  have  not  frightened  you  all  too  much," 
he  said  with  a  penitent  sweetness  which  she  had 
never  heard  before  in  his  voice.  "I  am  afraid  it 
was  selfish  and  thoughtless  and  rather  cruel  to 
shut  one's  self  up  like  that.  I  am  truly  sorry 
for  any  alarm  I  may  have  caused  — but,  you  see, 
it  was  necessary  that  I  should  be  alone  with  my 
God." 

"Yes,  that  I  quite  understand,"  she  said  brokenly. 

"He  has  been  very  good  to  me,"  said  the  Minister 
musingly,  almost  as  though  he  was  thinking  aloud. 

"Very,  very  good  to  me.  I  am  almost  daring  to 
hope  He  has  given  me  that  for  which  I  crave." 

"The  strength  to  do  right.?" 

"Yes  —  just  that.  He  has  been  with  me  here  in 
this  little  room."  The  voice  and  look  were  those 
of  a  seer.  "He  came  to  me  when  I  sought  Him.  I 
am  very  grateful."  The  sudden  tears  glistened  in 
his  eyes.  "Very  grateful  —  for  myself  and  for  the 
country." 

"  Is  it  that  you  see  the  way  out  ? " 


202  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Not  yet.  It  is  too  early  for  that.  But  I  have 
a  ray  of  hope." 

"You  know  that  you  were  twice  sent  for  yester- 
day?" 

"Oh,  yes.  I  am  quite  cognizant  of  all  that  has 
passed.  I  hope  the  King  will  not  think  me  discour- 
teous. I  have  just  posted  a  letter  to  inform  him  that 
for  the  present  I  am  not  able  to  attend  to  any  public 
business." 

"You  feel,  in  the  circumstances,  that  some  such 
statement  was  expedient?" 

"Expedient  is  hardly  the  word.  But  I  felt  it  to 
be  due  to  us  both.  As  a  Christian  gentleman  he  is 
not  likely  to  misconstrue  what  I  have  written." 

"Is  it  that  you  have  asked  for  an  extension 
of  the  forty-eight  hours  in  order  to  arrive  at  a 
decision?" 

The  Minister  closed  his  eyes  as  one  overcome 
with  weariness. 

"  I  have  asked  for  nothing.  I  can  make  no  decision. 
God  will  decide.  It  must  be  left  in  His  hands.  He 
will  decide  for  us  all." 

"Has  He  decided?" 

She  put  the  question  almost  breathlessly. 

"He  has  not  yet  made  known  His  will." 

"And  is  it  that  you  cannot  see  the  King  until  the 
will  of  God  is  made  known?  " 

"  Even  as  you  say,  my  dear  friend.     The  case  has 


THE  CRISIS  203 

been  submitted  to  the  High  Court.  We  must  now 
possess  our  souls  in  patience  and  abide  the  issue." 

Again  she  felt  that  tightening  of  the  throat  and 
breast  that  of  late  had  afflicted  her. 

"Do  you  seem  to  have  any  knowledge  of  when 
His  will  will  be  made  known?" 

"I  feel  it  will  not  be  long  delayed,"  said  the  Min- 
ister. 


XXV 

ROCKINGHAM  HOUSE  on  the  night  of  "a 
crush"  was  a  rather  imposing  spectacle.  A 
string  of  vehicles  encumbered  half  the  purlieus  of 
Mayfair.  Wealth,  rank,  distinction  of  many  kinds, 
charming  dresses  and  interesting  personalities  in 
an  almost  endless  profusion  entered  the  courtyard, 
passed  under  the  awning  and  found  their  way  up  the 
famous  white  marble  staircase,  garnished  with  the 
genius  of  Lely,  Kneller,  Gainsborough,  Reynolds, 
Romney,  and  Lawrence.  And  at  the  head  of  the 
stairs  the  company  was  received  by  a  personage 
who  shone  that  evening  with  a  genius  more  vital  than 
ever  canvas  was  endowed  with,  by  even  the  greatest 
painter  that  ever  existed. 

The  hostess  presented  a  stiking  contrast  to  her 
guests.  A  very  tall,  animated  woman  with  a  remark- 
able freedom  of  pose,  she  wore  a  plain  black  gown. 
Neither  head  nor  neck  was  embellished  by  a  single 
ornament.  The  hair  was  drawn  straight  back  from 
the  large,  noble,  rather  masculine  features;  and  there 
was  some  subtle  quality  in  the  whole  bearing  which 
seemed  to  dominate  the  crowded  rooms. 

204 


THE  CRISIS  205 

This  was  a  strong-spirited,  remarkable  woman, 
an  esprit  fort,  with  whose  name  at  that  particular 
moment  rumour  was  more  than  a  little  busy.  The 
real  cause  for  the  protracted  deliberations  of  the 
Privy  Council  was  now  known  to  the  town. 

The  facts  as  they  had  begun  to  percolate  through 
to  the  gossips  of  the  metropolis  were  that  in  the 
country  the  pendulum  of  public  opinion  had  already 
swung  very  decisively  in  the  direction  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Conciliation,  and  that  a  clique 
of  intriguers  and  placemen,  making  morality  their 
watchword,  had  been  able  up  till  the  present  to  freeze 
him  out. 

To-night,  as  soon  as  the  guests  began  to  assemble, 
a  strange  tense  undercurrent  of  excitement  was  pres- 
ent in  the  spaciously  beautiful  rooms.  As  minute 
by  minute  they  filled  up,  the  atmosphere  became 
increasingly  electrical.  The  sands  in  the  hour-glass 
were  running  out.  The  country  had  been  twelve 
days  now  without  a  Government;  and  it  was  realized 
on  every  hand  that  the  nation  was  passing  through 
the  gravest  crisis  it  had  known  for  nearly  three 
hundred  years. 

There  were  many  strained  and  anxious  faces  in 
that  oddly  assorted  assembly.  It  was  of  a  political 
rather  than  social  cast.  Little  intimate  groups  were 
conversing  apart  in  low  tones.  Shortly  after  eleven 
o'clock  the  rooms  were  crowded,  and  in  a  vague,  indefi- 


2o6  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

nite  way  it  was  felt  that  something  decisive  was 
about  to  occur. 

"Where  is  Draper?"  asked  a  member  of  the  late 
Government  as  he  made  his  way  with  an  authori- 
tative air  to  a  group  at  the  far  end  of  the  larger 
room. 

"  I  thought  we  were  to  have  the  pleasure  of  meet- 
ing him  this  evening."" 

"I  hear  he  has  been  all  day  with  the  King,"  said 
the  central  figure  of  the  group,  a  fine  looking,  elderly 
man  who  wore  a  star. 

"Things  must  be  pretty  bad,  then.  Has  the 
Rockingham  faction  given  its  answer?" 

"It  had  not  up  till  five  o'clock.  Of  course  they 
have  till  Monday." 

"And  they  are  conferring  at  Cloudesley?" 

"One  hears  so." 

"Why  at  Cloudesley?  One  would  have  thought 
they  would  have  kept  on  the  spot." 

"They  can  do  nothing  wherever  they  are  until  the 
decision  is  made.  And  one  understands  their  chief 
object  at  present  is  to  keep  clear  of  the  Press.  By 
the  way,  all  the  world  is  saying  that  Draper  has 
broken  with  his  wife." 

"So  one  hears;  but  one  hesitates  to  say  how  true 
it  is." 

"She  has  been  at  Cloudesley  a  fortnight  at  any 
rate,  whatever  that  may  mean." 


THE  CRISIS  207 

"Well,  it  was  always  an  utterly  incomprehensible 
marriage." 

This  fragment  of  conversation  was  but  one  among 
many  of  a  similar  kind.  The  name  of  Draper  was 
upon  every  lip.  From  the  midst  of  the  slough  of 
apathy  and  indecision  of  the  last  twelve  days  this 
man  of  will  and  purpose  had  begun  clearly  to  emerge. 
It  was  now  known  that  the  country  at  large  was  call- 
ing for  him.  The  solid  body  of  common  sense  which 
has  ever  been  at  the  core  of  the  nation,  that  phalanx 
of  moderate  opinion  which  in  a  supreme  crisis  can 
rise  above  faction,  was  beginning  now  to  make  its 
voice  plainly  heard. 

That  Rockingham  had  been  asked  by  the  King 
to  form  a  ministry,  and  that  he  had  till  the  following 
Monday  at  noon  in  which  to  make  up  his  mind,  was 
known  to  the  few.  It  was  also  known  that  Rocking- 
ham and  his  friends  and  advisers  were  conferring 
together  during  that  week-end  in  the  seclusion  of  a 
famousTory  country-house,  forty  miles  from  London. 
This  withdrawal  from  the  metropolis  at  such  an  hour 
had  been  much  commented  upon  by  those  who  were 
aware  of  what  was  taking  place;  but  having  re- 
gard to  the  electrical  state  of  the  atmosphere,  the 
secrecy  which  was  being  rigorously  maintained  in 
respect  of  the  negotiations,  and  the  almost  certain 
prospect  of  their  leaking  out  had  they  been  con- 
ducted  in  London,  the  wisdom  of   such  a  course 


2o8  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

of  action  until  a  decision  had  been  reached  was 
recognized  by  those  best  qualified  to  judge. 

The  events  of  the  past  week  had  made  it  clear  to 
all  that  at  the  moment  no  Government  of  any  kind 
would  be  acceptable  to  the  nation  at  large  unless  it 
included  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Conciliation. 
His  tour  of  the  North,  which  had  checked  the  rising 
tide  of  disorder  and  lawlessness,  had  also  had  the 
effect  of  forcing  the  hand  of  the  Sovereign,  and  ren- 
dering the  Minister  indispensable  to  the  country's 
governance.  It  was  felt  that  it  would  be  worse  than 
futile  for  Rockingham  to  accept  office  without  coming 
to  terms  with  the  remarkable  man  to  whom  politi- 
cally and  socially  he  was  bitterly  opposed. 

Apart,  however,  from  these  salient  facts  all  sorts 
of  sinister  rumours  were  rife  this  evening  at  Rocking- 
ham House.  It  had  turned  half-past  eleven,  and 
the  man  about  whose  complex  personality  the  situa- 
tion crystallized  had  not  yet  appeared.  For  some 
reason,  vague  and  hard  to  define,  his  absence  was 
taken  by  many  as  a  grave  omen. 

Fresh  arrivals  swelled  the  throng  continually.  It  be- 
came increasingly  difficult  to  move  about  the  crowded 
rooms.  The  buzz  of  conversation  rose  higher  and 
more  insistent,  and  every  few  minutes,  in  the  train  of 
the  latest  representative  person's  arrival,  some  new 
and  startling  rumour  was  bruited. 

The  appearance  at  twenty  minutes  to  twelve  of 


THE  CRISIS  209 

two  grave  and  reverend  members  of  the  Army  Coun- 
cil brought  the  sinister  information  that  martial  law- 
had  been  proclaimed  at  Manchester.  The  statement 
was  also  made,  not  however  by  those  who  were  in  a 
position  to  confirm  it,  that  the  troops  had  refused 
to  fire  upon  the  mob.  All  the  same,  the  intelligence 
spread  like  wildfire  from  group  to  group.  Many 
there  were  who  bluntly  refused  to  accept  the  news  as 
true;  others  set  themselves  stoutly  to  minimize  its 
significance. 

At  ten  minutes  to  twelve  the  entrance  of  the 
suavely  dignified  figure  of  the  Commissioner  of  Police 
gave  rise  to  further  ominous  speculations.  They  were 
supported  by  the  fact  that  the  Commissioner  steered 
a  straight  course  through  the  throng  to  a  solemn- 
looking  group  which  had  formed  apart  from  all  the 
others  and  was  composed  of  important  public  officials. 

Almost  immediately  afterward  a  hush  fell  upon  the 
crowded  rooms.     Mr.  Draper  had  appeared  at  last. 

"Upon  my  soul,  the  man  looks  like  a  death's- 
head,"  said  a  former  colleague  of  the  Minister. 

Every  detail  of  his  bearing  and  demeanour  was 
noted  with  an  eager  curiosity.  Yet  beyond  the  fact 
that  he  was  as  pale  as  death  little  could  be  gained 
from  the  outward  man.  There  was  seen  to  be  an 
aloofness  about  him,  an  air  of  detachment  as  if  at  the 
moment  he  moved  upon  some  other  plane  of  being. 

Keen,  even  anxious,  eyes  were  directed  upon  him. 


2IO  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

noting  to  whom  he  talked,  marking  him  closely  in 
all  he  did.  It  was  remarked,  however,  by  some 
acute  observers,  who  also  were  the  most  closely  in 
touch  with  the  trend  of  affairs,  that  the  man  bore 
no  trace  of  consciousness  of  that  signal  triumph 
which  he  must  have  known  to  be  his  already. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  he  looked  so  ghastly  that  he 
might  have  met  a  ghost  on  the  stairs.  And  as  he 
moved  among  the  throng  exchanging  a  few  perfunc- 
tory sentences  with  this  person  and  that,  it  was  as 
though  this  critical  but  heterogeneous  crowd  had 
neither  meaning  nor  interest  for  him,  and  that  his 
mind  was  away  elsewhere. 

The  Minister,  however,  lost  no  time  in  making  his 
way  to  what  was  known  as  the  Vandyck  room,  where, 
surrounded  by  effigies  of  the  historic  past,  was  assem- 
bled a  number  of  those  who  were  responsible  for  the 
maintenance  of  law  and  order.  In  the  midst  of  these 
stood  the  hostess  in  earnest  conversation  with  the 
Commissioner  of  Police.  The  appearance  of  Mr. 
Draper  with  his  ghostlike  countenance  had  the  effect 
in  some  strange  way  of  increasing  the  tension  that 
was  felt  by  all. 

Every  moment  now  seemed  to  add  to  the  volume 
of  wild  speculation.  By  twelve  o'clock  all  in  the 
crowded  rooms  appeared  to  realize  that  the  floodgates 
had  opened,  and  that  the  surging  tide  of  popular 
unrest  had  broken  loose. 


THE  CRISIS  211 

Precisely  the  form  in  which  organized  hostility  to 
the  established  order  had  manifested  itself  none 
seemed  to  know.  But  somehow,  in  a  subtle  and 
indefinable  manner,  it  was  realized  that  the  country 
was  in  the  grip  of  a  cataclysm.  And  then  quite 
suddenly,  a  few  minutes  after  midnight  had  passed, 
there  came,  in  as  strikingly  effective  and  dramatic  a 
fashion  as  the  wit  of  man  could  devise,  an  evidence, 
a  potent  and  irrefragable  evidence,  that  the  forces  of 
industrial  anarchy  had  declared  war  against  society. 


XXVI 

AT  a  few  minutes  after  midnight,  on  the  morning 
of  the  fourteenth  of  February,  without  any  sort 
of  warning,  the  brilliantly  lighted  rooms  of  Rocking- 
ham House  were  plunged  in  darkness.  No  omen 
more  startling  or  disturbing  could  have  been  devised. 
Coming  at  such  a  time,  as  the  climax  to  those  sinis- 
ter fears  in  which  the  minds  of  all  were  engulfed,  it 
struck  a  chill  into  every  heart. 

There  was  not  the  least  sign  of  panic.  The  good 
sense,  the  instinctive  restraint  and  self-possession 
with  which  educated  English  people  are  generally 
able  to  arm  themselves  in  a  crisis  were  remarkably 
displayed.  Darkness,  sudden  and  complete,  had 
descended  upon  the  crowded  assembly,  but  every 
person  in  it  supported  the  calamity  and  the  hint  of 
untold  ones  to  follow  with  a  stoicism  that  was  won- 
derful. 

Matches  were  struck  in  various  parts  of  the  rooms. 
In  a  very  short  time  the  servants,  aided  by  a  number 
of  the  guests,  were  able  to  procure  a  tolerably  efficient 
supply  of  candles. 

Presently,  by  the  orders  of  the  hostess,  a  table  was 


THE  CRISIS  213 

moved  into  the  centre  of  the  largest  of  the  rooms. 
She  then  mounted  it,  and  in  a  clear,  steady,  and 
penetrating  voice  addressed  her  guests. 

"I  am  afraid,"  said  Evelyn  Rockingham,  "that 
a  very  grievous  thing  has  happened,  but  a  thing 
which  I  am  sure,  as  Englishmen  and  Englishwomen, 
we  shall  all  know  how  to  bear  with  calmness  and 
fortitude.  As  perhaps  some  of  you  have  surmised 
already,  the  nightmare  which  for  a  number  of  years 
past  has  been  a  phantom  in  our  minds  has  at  last 
taken  shape.  The  news  has  been  brought  to  us,  and 
this  sudden  darkness  has  confirmed  it,  that  a  wicked 
war  has  been  declared  against  society  at  large  by 
those  whom  we  can  only  regard  as  its  enemies.  I 
grieve  to  tell  you  that  the  Workers'  League  has 
declared  a  universal  strike  throughout  the  country. 
This  sudden  darkness  into  which  we  are  plunged  is 
the  confirmation  of  the  fact.  The  Bishop  of  London, 
whom  by  the  grace  of  God  we  have  here  in  our  midst, 
will  offer  a  short  prayer  of  intercession." 

The  hostess  descended  from  the  table,  and  the 
plaintive  but  sweetly  impressive  tones  of  the  clergy- 
man stole  over  the  curious  hush  that  now  enveloped 
the  rooms.  Those  who  witnessed  the  company, 
which  had  assembled  for  a  very  different  purpose, 
kneeling  in  prayer  never  forgot  the  spectacle.  The 
candles  shone  fitfully  upon  the  darkened  scene. 
Many  of  the  choicest  spirits  of  the  time  humbly  in- 


214  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

voked  the  aid  of  One  In  whom  some  of  them  had  not 
a  very  profound  belief.  There  was  a  deep  silence 
while  the  Bishop,  a  snow-white  patriarch,  bent  with 
years,  interceded  for  the  country,  and  begged  that 
the  lives  of  the  innocent  might  not  be  sacrificed. 

When  the  Bishop  had  concluded  his  prayer,  Eve- 
lyn Rockingham  mounted  the  table  and  once  more 
addressed  her  guests.  "The  President  of  the  Board 
of  Conciliation,"  she  said,  "desires  to  address  you. 
He  has  been  throughout  the  day  in  consultation  with 
our  beloved  Sovereign.  He  wishes  to  lay  before  you 
a  scheme  which  has  been  formulated  in  this  dire 
emergency,  almost  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  for  the 
maintenance  of  law  and  order,  and  for  the  security 
of  the  Throne.  In  the  absence  of  a  Government  he 
is  only  able  to  speak  to  you  as  a  private  citizen.  But 
he  begs  you  to  give  him  the  courtesy  of  a  hearing.  It 
is  a  matter  of  the  gravest  urgency  he  wishes  to  lay 
before  you,  since  not  a  moment  is  to  be  lost  if  an 
appalling  sacrifice  of  life  and  property  is  to  be 
averted." 

Good  manners  prevented  any  dissent  being  audibly 
expressed  while  the  hostess  was  making  her  proposal. 
But  as  soon  as  she  had  yielded  her  place  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Conciliation,  who  in  the  fitful 
and  uncertain  light  looked  more  like  a  ghost  than 
ever,  the  silence  was  broken  by  a  storm  of  hisses  and 
cries  of  "Traitor!" 


THE  CRISIS  215 

It  was  then  seen  that  there  were  many  present  in 
that  assembly  who  were  still  bitterly  hostile  to  the 
Minister.  In  many  hearts  there  was  a  deep-rooted 
dislike.  There  were  those  who  held  that  the  blame 
for  the  present  catastrophe  must  be  laid  to  his  door. 
Their  minds  were  obsessed  by  what  they  consid- 
ered to  be  his  ill-considered  action  in  throwing 
out  the  Coalition  Government  on  a  minor  point  of 
detail. 

At  first  it  seemed  that  Mr.  Draper  would  be  refused 
a  hearing.  A  storm  of  angry  voices  was  raised  all 
around  him.  Many  were  the  gestures  of  protest. 
But  as  the  austere  figure  stood  there  confronting 
them  with  a  calmness  that  seemed  to  transcend  the 
passions  of  men,  the  look  of  a  seer  upon  his  face,  all 
who  had  eyes  to  see  were  overawed. 

For  a  time  the  ascetic  figure  stood  there,  deadly 
pale,  head  bent  in  patience,  not  attempting  to  utter 
a  word.  The  gesture  was  one  of  pain  almost  too 
great  to  be  borne.  Something  seemed  to  have  hap- 
pened to  the  aggressively  indomitable  personality. 
His  attitude  as  he  stood  dumbly  confronting  this 
hostility  was  completely  passive,  completely  sub- 
missive, as  of  one  walking  close  with  his  God. 

When  at  last  he  opened  his  lips,  every  voice  was 
hushed. 

"My  countrymen  and  countrywomen"  —  the  won- 
derful voice  floated  clear  and  dominant  throughout 


2i6  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

the  room  —  "I  ask  you  in  the  name  of  God  to  forget 
your  politics." 

The  appeal  was  not  in  vain.  The  noble  simplicity 
which  could  never  fail  of  its  effect  in  the  ears  of 
those  accustomed  to  judge  men  spoke  to  every 
heart.  In  the  lineaments  of  that  ghostlike  presence 
was  embodied  that  rare  and  precious  thing  for  lack 
of  which  the  country  was  like  to  bleed  to  death. 

The  bitter  enemies  of  James  Draper,  and  the  room 
held  many  who  hated  and  distrusted  him,  were 
forced  to  listen  to  his  words.  The  power  of  his  per- 
sonality, fused  into  action  by  a  grave  crisis,  was  all- 
compelling.  And  having  heard  those  words,  few,  plain, 
and  fitful,  broken  by  the  deep  emotion  of  the  speaker, 
which  at  times  threatened  to  conquer  him,  the  dullest 
and  most  prejudiced  heart  thrilled  in  response. 

In  the  eyes  of  many,  the  rather  strange  figure 
mounted  upon  the  table  was  a  little  grotesque.  But 
those  who  heard  his  words,  slowly  and  painfully 
uttered,  and  so  charged  with  emotion  that  they 
could  hardly  be  induced  to  leave  his  lips,  seemed  to 
recognize  that  it  was  the  voice  of  God  speaking  to 
the  people  of  England. 

Every  heart  was  uplifted  by  an  austerity  which  by 
some  inward  grace  that  few  had  suspected  to  be 
there  was  raised  to  the  highest  power.  Here  was  no 
oratorical  trickery.  It  was  the  unstudied  expression 
of  a  humble-minded  citizen  who  loved  his  country. 


THE  CRISIS  217 

This  was  no  political  phrasemonger  bemusing  his 
hearers  with  insincerity  and  claptrap,  but  a  spritual- 
minded  man  accustomed  to  fear  his  God,  and  to 
walk  with  Him  on  occasion. 

An  old  peer  at  the  far  end  of  the  room,  with 
the  tears  streaming  down  his  face,  whispered  to  his 
wife,  "This  man  is  a  Cromwell.'* 

In  a  sense  it  was  true.  In  some  such  manner  must 
the  Lord  Protector  have  addressed  his  countrymen. 

"I  would  to  God,"  said  the  great,  deep,  vibrant 
tones,  full  of  an  odd  kind  of  harmony,  "that  we  had 
not  tarried  so  long  in  the  gate.  Incalculable  mis- 
chief has  been  done.  The  King  has  been  twelve  days 
without  a  Government.  And  now  that  this  long- 
predicted  blow  has  fallen  upon  us  with  awful  sudden- 
ness there  is  none  to  advise  him.  This  is  an  hour 
when  the  King  does  not  know  which  are  his  friends 
and  which  are  his  enemies.  But  I  have  to  inform 
you  that  he  proposes  to  take  immediate  steps  to 
find  out.  A  Royal  Proclamation  is  in  the  course  of 
preparation  and  will  be  issued  at  daybreak.  It  will 
call  upon  every  able-bodied  man  in  the  kingdom 
between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  seventy,  irrespective 
of  creed  or  class,  to  enroll  himself  immediately  as  a 
special  constable  pledged  and  empowered  to  main- 
tain law  and  order,  and  to  protect  life  and  property  to 
the  utmost  of  his  power.  A  special  badge,  or  insignia, 
has  already  been  devised,  whereby  it  will  be  possible 


2i8  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

to  distinguish  the  sheep  from  the  goats.  But  as  it  will 
notbe  possible  to  prepare  one  specially  for  the  purpose, 
it  it  proposed  that  every  loyalist  when  he  has  been 
sworn  should  wear  a  white  band  round  the  left  arm." 

Loud  cries  of  assent  greeted  the  suggestion. 

"The  scheme  is,  of  course,  both  hasty  and  imper- 
fect, designed  under  pressure  to  meet  a  special  case 
which  does  not  admit  of  a  moment's  delay.  May  I 
ask  all  present  who  approve  the  scheme  to  hold  up 
their  right  hands." 

Every  right  hand  in  the  room  was  raised  instantly. 

"It  will  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  Sovereign," 
said  Mr.  Draper,  "that  this  hastily  designed  scheme 
has  met  with  the  unanimous  approval  of  this  dis- 
tinguished and  representative  assembly.  Within  a 
few  hours  from  now  every  loyal  man  in  the  country 
will  know  what  measures  to  take  in  order  to  protect 
and  uphold  the  State.  There  is  not  an  instant  to  be 
lost.  By  daybreak  the  King  will  have  empowered 
every  magistrate  within  the  precincts  of  his  kingdom 
to  administer  the  special  constable's  oath.  And  in 
the  meantime  I  will  bear  to  him  the  assurance  of  your 
unanimous  approval." 

The  President  of  the  Board  of  Conciliation 
stepped  down  from  the  elevation  on  which  he  had 
poised  himself.  Murmurs  of  gratitude,  reverence, 
and  admiration  accompanied  him  as  he  made  his 
way  out  of  the  room. 


PART  TWO 
CUTTING  THE  KNOT 
I 

CLOUDESLEY  was  one  of  the  great  Tory  houses 
of  England.  It  had  long  cherished  political 
power.  But  of  late  years  it  had  found  it  increasingly 
difficult  to  keep  a  hold  upon  affairs. 

In  the  golden  days  before  democracy  had  begun 
to  realize  itself,  the  Lorings  in  common  with  the 
Stanhopes,  the  Howards,  the  Russells,  and  other  well- 
placed  families  had  been  accustomed  to  shape  affairs 
as  a  matter  of  course,  and  to  legislate  in  accordance 
with  the  interests  of  a  particular  class.  But  these 
days  had  passed.  Very  reluctantly  the  few  had  had 
to  yield  to  the  many.  Here  and  there  a  clan  such  as 
the  Lorings  fought  tenaciously  for  a  semblance  of 
power.  Politics  was  in  its  blood.  Moreover,  it  had 
an  intense  appreciation  of  the  usefulness  of  certain 
things. 

But  now  it  was  felt  by  all  that  class  interest  had 
come  to  its  Armageddon.  Indeed,  to  many  the  fact 
that  a  Rockingham  ministry  had  only  been  made 

219 


220  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

possible  by  the  inclusion  of  James  Draper  was  a  con- 
fession that  already  the  battle  had  been  fought  and 
lost. 

Loring  himself  made  a  perfectly  charming  host. 
There  was  abundant  evidence  of  the  fact  in  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  Cloudesley  breakfast  table  on  the 
morning  of  Saturday,  the  historic  fifteenth  of  Febru- 
ary. As  one  by  one  his  guests  reached  the  dining- 
room,  and  after  a  brief  interchange  of  pleasantries 
with  those  already  at  the  table,  which  suggested 
that  such  a  gathering  was  more  in  the  nature  of  a 
family  party  than  a  momentous  political  conclave, 
they  found  their  way  to  the  heavily  laden  sideboard, 
it  needed  little  in  the  way  of  observation  to  tell  that 
these  were  the  best  of  their  kind. 

Each  had  the  air,  the  manner,  the  indefinable  but 
superficial  grace  of  those  who  have  lived  soft  for 
several  generations.  Each  had  the  look  of  race  and 
the  peculiar  timbre  of  voice  that  accompanies  it. 
Fastidious  to  a  degree  they  were  yet  frankness  itself 
in  the  company  of  each  other. 

There  was  only  one  exception  to  this  pervasive 
air  of  "thoroughbredness."  This  was  provided  by 
a  Yorkshire  manufacturer  who  had  enjoyed  wealth 
for  a  comparatively  short  time,  whose  voice  in  con- 
sequence was  pitched  slightly  too  loud  for  such  an 
assembly,  whose  air,  moreover,  was  a  little  too  con- 
fident, and  whose  opinions  were  a  shade  too  unquali- 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  221 

iied.  For  that  reason,  perhaps,  he  sat  next  to  the 
host  and  remained  perpetually  under  his  aegis. 

Loring  himself  had  always  been  persona  gratissima 
in  his  own  sphere,  and  indeed  in  any  other  in  which 
he  had  ever  chosen  to  mingle.  He  was  not  a  pro- 
found man  in  any  sense  of  the  word  — mere  depth 
does  not  win  general  acceptation  in  any  society  — • 
all  his  opinions  were  plain  and  unvarnished,  but  he 
had  a  most  agreeable  faculty  of  expressing  the  ob- 
vious with  a  half-comic  air  of  conviction.  He  con- 
veyed an  impression  of  being  perfectly  straight- 
forward. One  somehow  felt  that  in  spite  of  a 
commonplaceness  of  mind  that  was  a  little  painful 
at  times,  and  a  homely  method  of  expressing  it 
that  verged  upon  the  vulgar,  beyond  all  things  the 
man  was  sound  at  the  core. 

It  would  have  been  difficult  to  tell  from  the  manner 
of  the  guests  at  the  breakfast  table  that  they  had 
been  and  still  were  preoccupied  with  the  making  of 
history.  There  was  no  affectation  of  weight.  Even 
Rockingham,  buttering  his  toast,  and  wondering 
what  sort  of  a  year  it  was  likely  to  be  for  birds,  con- 
veyed no  suggestion  that  he  was  face  to  face  with 
the  gravest  decision  that  any  man  could  have  been 
called  upon  to  make. 

A  discussion  of  birds  became  general.  Even  in 
the  middle  of  February  they  are  better  worth  dis- 
cussing than  politics;  that  is,  to  members  of  the 


222  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

Right.  There  was  an  exception  even  to  this  rule, 
and  it  was  the  Yorkshire  manufacturer  who  provided 
it.  He  presented  the  curious  anomaly  of  a  member 
of  the  Right  who  actually  preferred  politics  to  sport. 

"I  say,  Loring,"  he  said  in  a  voice  a  little  louder 
than  was  necessary,  since  his  host  sat  next  to  him, 
"when  do  you  expect  Grundy.''" 

"To-morrow  afternoon." 

"And  is  Draper  coming.''" 

"I  believe  so." 

Smith-ffolliott  had  had  three  bad  years  running. 
This  year  he  felt  inclined  to  let  his  moor. 

"What'll  you  do  with  Draper?"  said  the  unde- 
feated Mr.  Ansell,  in  his  insistent  voice. 

"Oh,  I  expect  we  shall  be  able  to  find  a  mat  for  the 
dirty  dog  to  lie  on,"  said  the  host  with  an  opulent 
chuckle. 

"On  the  servants'  side,  I  hope,"  said  the  mincing 
tones  of  a  neighbouring  marquis. 

"Or  at  the  bailiff's  cottage." 

"But  he's  too  important,  ain't  he — nowadays.'"' 
said  the  undefeated  Mr.  Ansell,  whose  long  suit  was 
a  literal  precision  of  language  in  all  things,  hence  his 
immense  reputation  for  hard-headed  clear-thinking 
among  the  journalists  of  his  country.  "  I  shouldn't 
advise  going  out  of  our  way  to  insult  him." 

"Wouldn't  you,  by  Gad!"  said  Rockingham,  who 
was   seated  opposite  the  member  for  South  E^st 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  223 

Leeds,  with  a  rather  formidable  air.  "Wouldn't 
you,  by  Gad!" 

Smith-fFolliott  felt  obliged  to  snigger  furtively  into 
his  coffee  cup. 

"No,  I  wouldn't,"  said  Mr.  Ansell  with  statesman- 
like decision. 

"We  mustn't  then,"  lisped  a  quizzical  person  very 
softly. 

Mr.  Ansell  rose  from  the  table  with  the  air  of  one 
who  has  once  again  saved  the  empire  and  exchanged 
the  remains  of  a  sole  for  some  delightfully  cooked 
kidneys  and  bacon. 

"Does  Lady  Aline  know  that  Draper  is  expected?" 
he  asked,  as  he  resumed  his  place  at  the  table. 

"I  am  afraid  I  have  no  information  I  can  place  at 
your  disposal,"  said  the  host  with  a  dryness  he  sel- 
dom achieved. 


II 

BEFORE  the  morning  was  far  advanced  com- 
plaints were  general  that  neither  letters  nor 
newspapers  had  arrived.  Moreover,  it  was  impos- 
sible to  get  a  London  call  on  the  telephone.  Inquiry 
at  the  post-office  in  the  village  threw  no  light  on  these 
matters.  The  postmaster  merely  knew  that  the 
trains  were  not  running  to  Deighton,  the  nearest 
railway  station,  three  miles  off,  and  that  for  some 
mysterious  reason  it  was  impossible  to  get  into  any 
sort  of  communication  with  the  metropolis. 

A  rather  sinister  feeling  of  uneasiness  descended 
upon  the  Cloudesley  house-party.  The  members  of 
it  were  in  a  position  to  know  that  the  fate  of  the 
nation  was  hanging  upon  a  thread.  Had  the  blow 
fallen.?  Had  revolution,  had  civil  war,  broken  out? 
These  questions  were  asked  freely,  and  for  a  time 
none  was  able  to  give  an  answer. 

About  eleven  o'clock,  however,  news  came.  At 
that  hour  a  King's  messenger  arrived  in  a  motor  car. 
He  brought  an  urgent  request  from  the  King  that 
Loring  should  go  up  to  London  at  once.  In  the  letter 
which  the  King  had  sent  to  the  master  of  Cloudesley 

224 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  225 

he  stated  that  the  events  of  the  last  twelve  hours  had 
made  it  imperative  that  a  committee  of  public  safety- 
should  be  formed  without  a  moment's  delay.  Such 
a  committee  had  been  called  into  being  already, 
and  Mr.  Draper  had  been  temporarily  appointed 
president. 

It  was  the  King's  desire  that  Rockingham,  Maul- 
everer,  Ansell,  and  the  other  distinguished  members 
of  the  Right  at  present  in  conclave  at  Cloudesley, 
should  remain  where  they  were  until  such  a  time  as 
they  had  been  able  to  reach  a  definite  decision 
respecting  the  formation  of  a  Government.  They 
had  until  the  following  Monday  at  noon  in  which  to 
promulgate  it.  The  King  hoped  that  in  spite  of  the 
exceedingly  perilous  state  of  the  country  it  would 
be  possible  for  Grundy  and  Draper  to  leave  the 
metropolis  for  a  few  hours  on  Sunday  in  order  to  meet 
the  Duke  and  his  advisers  at  Cloudesley. 

The  messenger,  whose  name  was  Brandreth,  was 
able  to  supply  a  number  of  details  which  had  been 
omitted  from  the  royal  communication.  It  seemed 
that  a  general  strike  had  been  declared.  It  embraced 
all  the  lower  grades  of  wage-earners,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  Navy,  the  Army,  and  the  Police.  And 
in  Wales  and  in  the  North  even  among  the  two  latter 
classes  there  was  said  to  be  a  grave  fear  of  disaffec- 
tion. Sedition  was  reported  to  be  rife  on  every  hand. 
The  whole   country  was   in   imminent  peril.     The 


226  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

Workers'  League,  with  its  anti-social  propaganda, 
and  its  millions  of  subscribers  pledged  to  advance  it 
by  every  means  in  their  power,  had  brought  the  life 
of  the  nation  to  a  standstill. 

The  members  of  the  Cloudesley  house-party  were 
without  exception  the  bulwarks  of  the  class  which 
had  all  to  lose.  They  did  not  need  to  be  told  what 
lay  behind  the  declaration  of  war  on  the  part  of  the 
League.  The  gauge  of  battle  had  been  thrown  down 
because  in  the  opinion  of  its  leaders  the  hour  was 
favourable  in  which  to  wage  the  bitterest  civil  strife 
since  the  terrible  days  of  1642.  The  land  of  England 
for  the  People  of  England  was  the  motto  emblazoned 
on  the  banners  of  the  League. 

In  the  eyes  of  God  and  the  Law,  said  the  chief 
spokesman  of  the  League,  all  men  are  equal.  The 
hour  is  here,  my  brothers,  in  which  to  make  an  end 
forever  of  a  vain,  pretentious,  idle,  and  corrupt  plu- 
tocracy. These  people  who  do  nothing  but  pursue 
their  worthless  and  ridiculous  pleasures,  who  enclose 
all  the  fairest  and  noblest  portions  of  the  island  for 
their  own  private  playgrounds,  must  show  cause  and 
make  good,  else  they  will  not  be  allowed  to  continue. 
Great  Britain  is  the  gift  of  God  to  the  people  of 
Great  Britain,  it  is  not  the  perquisite  of  a  handful  of 
commercial  adventurers  mainly  cosmopolitan  in 
their  origin,  however  subtly  they  may  in  some  cases 
have  concealed  the  sources  of  their  wealth. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  227 

Rockingham,  the  owner  of  one  half  an  English 
county  and  about  one  twelfth  of  Scotland,  seemed 
less  perturbed  by  the  news  than  anybody.  He  waa 
an  extremely  clear-sighted  man,  and  on  occasion  he 
had  the  habit  of  expressing  his  mind  with  a  cynicism 
which  even  his  closest  friends  found  repellent. 

"I  wonder  that  the  fools  have  let  us  go  on  so  long," 
had  been  his  historic  comment  on  the  propaganda 
of  the  League.  And  he  took  the  declaration  of  war 
with  equal  coolness. 

Loring,  less  developed  mentally,  yet  with  almost 
as  much  to  lose,  was  hardly  equal  to  this  philosophi- 
cal aloofness.  More  famous  as  a  sportsman  than  as 
a  politician,  it  was  in  his  capacity  of  an  honest,  forth- 
right, rather  rough  but  decidedly  shrewd  fellow  that 
he  bore  his  part  in  public  aifairs.  It  is  always  good 
for  a  nation  that  men  of  this  type,  with  a  wide  if 
superficial  knowledge  of  the  world,  should  be  called 
to  its  councils  in  a  time  of  crisis.  Loring  was  not 
actively  a  politician,  but  his  tremendous  Britishness 
made  him  a  person  of  considerable  weight  in  any 
assembly  of  his  countrymen.  He  was  the  incarna- 
tion of  the  average  man;  a  good  fellow  to  boot;  one 
whose  animal  passions  and  fighting  instincts  had 
been  dulled  by  hyperculture. 

"  If  the  dirty  dogs  are  out  for  a  fight,"  said  Loring, 
"  I  expect  we  can  give  'em  their  bellyful  at  that  game^ 
Eh,  Evan,  what  say  you-f"" 


228  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

Mr.  Evan  Mauleverer,  that  prince  of  reactionaries 
who  was  never  visible  until  noon,  had  just  sauntered 
down  into  the  hall. 

"Why,  cert'nly,  my  dear  fellow,"  lisped  the  silver- 
haired  leader  of  the  Right  with  the  rather  obvious 
and  carefully  cultivated  charm  of  manner  which  he 
sometimes  put  to  infamous  uses.  "A  whiiF  of  grape- 
shot.     There's  nothing  like  it." 

Evan  Mauleverer  adjusted  his  pince-nez  with  a 
languor  it  would  have  been  easy  to  mistake  for 
indifference.  Gazing  coolly  around  the  circle  of 
gravely  anxious  faces  his  eye  fell  on  Brandreth, 
the  King's  messenger,  who  was  known  to  him. 

"Hulloa,  Brandreth,"  he  said,  "what's  the  matter 
now.'*" 

Loring  explained.  There  was  considerable  fervour 
in  the  recital.  It  was  terminated  by  the  appearance 
of  a  servant  with  his  master's  fur  travelling  coat  and 
soft  felt  hat. 

"I  shall  be  back  to  dinner,  I  hope,"  said  the 
host.  "In  any  case  I  shall  be  here  by  lunch-time 
to-morrow.  And  I  shall  try  to  induce  Grundy 
and  Draper  to  come  with  me." 

Evan  Mauleverer  laughed  ironically.  "I'll  bet 
you  a  sovereign  you  don't  get  Draper,"  he  said. 

"I'll  bet  you  a  sovereign  I  do,"  said  Loring  with  an 
air  of  conviction.  "That  is,  of  course,  if  he  can  be 
spared." 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  229 

"He'll  not  come  down  here,  you'll  see,"  said  the 
leader  of  the  Right.     "Why  should  he?" 

"Why  shouldn't  he?" 

"  Why  shouldn't  he  ? "  Evan  Mauleverer  gathered 
himself  in  the  slow  and  calm  manner  that  made  him 
so  formidable  in  all  kinds  of  debate.  "My  dear 
fellow,  do  you  ask  the  question  seriously?" 

"Yes,  I  do."  Loring  stood  his  ground  with  the 
tenacity  of  the  plain  man  who  is  rather  proud  of  his 
limitations. 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you"  —  Evan  Mauleverer  slowly 
readjusted  his  pince-nez  for  no  obvious  reason  beyond 
"a  sense  of  the  theatre"  —  "the  ^Haberdasher'  has 
now  every  ace  in  the  pack.  And  if  he  plays  his  hand 
carefully  he  will  be  the  first  president  of  the  new 
republic." 

Mr.  Mauleverer's  unqualified  opinion  drew  sharp 
cries  of  dissent  from  all  save  Rockingham,  who  was 
merely  content  to  shrug  his  high  shoulders  and  to 
smile  to  himself. 

"Never!"  rose  a  deep-voiced  chorus. 

There  were  several  women  present,  and  these 
expressed  themselves  more  at  large.  The  hostess, 
a  daughter  of  an  old  governing  family,  grew  very 
red  in  the  face. 

"My  dear  Evan,"  she  said  in  a  rather  unpleasantly 
high-pitched  voice,  "I  don't  think  any  man  who 
calls  himself  an  Englishman  should  say  that." 


230  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

Mr.  Mauleverer  bowed  a  stately  gray  head. 

"I  agree,  my  dear  Alice,"  he  said  with  an  assump- 
tion of  humility  that  was  absolutely  disarming.  "I 
quite  agree.     I  beg  pardon." 

Rockingham,  however,  seemed  amused. 

"But  why  not  look  the  facts  in  the  face,  my 
dear  Alice?"  he  interposed  in  his  rather  elaborate 
manner. 

The  hostess  at  once  joined  issue  with  a  spirit  that 
lent  a  kind  of  beauty  to  her  homely  countenance. 

"It  shall  not  be  said  in  this  house,  Robert,"  said 
she.     "You  must  please  understand  that." 

"Alice  is  quite  right,  my  dear  Robert,"  said  Mr. 
Mauleverer  with  gallantry. 

"Well,  what  do  you  say.  Aline?"  said  the  Duke, 
mischievously  tenacious  of  his  point. 

His  question  was  addressed  to  the  wife  of  Draper. 
Lady  Aline  must  have  been  conscious  of  the  fact  that 
twenty  pairs  of  eyes  were  pinned  upon  her.  She 
grew  very  white.  Beyond  that,  however,  she  be- 
trayed no  visible  evidence  of  discomposure. 

"I  quite  agree  with  Aunt  Alice,"  she  said  in  a  cold, 
quiet  tone. 

A  snub  was  intended ;  but  the  woman  was  not  born 
who  could  administer  a  snub  to  a  man  of  the  type  of 
Rockingham. 

He  proceeded  to  look  her  down  steadily  from  his 
^reat  height. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  231 

"Don't  be  a  little  fool,"  he  said  in  a  tone  half  play- 
ful, half  contemptuous.  "We  can't  allow  you  to 
play  the  ostrich  and  bury  your  head  in  the  sand. 
You  at  least  ought  to  know  that  the  ^Haberdasher' 
is  capable  de  tout.^' 

Lady  Aline  made  no  rejoinder  to  this  studied  and 
slightly  brutal  insolence.  She  bit  her  lip  and  the 
proud  face  turned  to  the  colour  of  snow.  Rocking- 
ham had  scored  rather  heavily,  and  in  their  inmost 
hearts  the  group  of  observers  were  not  sorry.  It 
was  generally  supposed  that  Lady  Aline  had  already 
repented  of  her  crime  of  marrying  Draper,  but  her 
own  world  had  not  forgiven  her,  and  it  never  would. 

She  stood  like  a  small  statue  exquisitely  wrought. 
Her  slight  form  was  tense,  but  the  sensitive  mouth 
trembled  a  little.  Suddenly  with  an  impulse  of 
maternal  kindness  her  aunt  placed  her  arm  about 
her  waist  and  led  her  away  from  the  others  and  out 
of  the  hall. 


Ill 

As  THE  day  wore  on  it  seemed  to  generate  a 
smouldering  excitement.  Certainly  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  luncheon-table  was  surcharged  with 
electricity.  The  other  members  of  the  proposed 
cabinet,  one  and  all  cast  into  a  state  of  excitement 
they  were  hardly  able  to  repress,  were  a  little  inclined 
to  resent  the  supineness  of  Mauleverer  and  the 
cynicism  of  Rockingham.  These  were  their  proph- 
ets. To  these  they  looked  for  bread,  and  both 
appeared  to  be  content  to  offer  sustenance  in  the 
form  of  a  few  carefully  selected  stones. 

In  the  afternoon,  over  whisky  and  cigars,  there  was 
a  discussion  upon  the  subject  of  general  tactics. 
It  soon  grew  rather  heated.  The  Yorkshire  manu- 
facturer was  strongly  in  favour  oi  force  majeure. 

"If  the  devils  won't  work  Fd  make  'em,"  said  he. 
"We've  got  the  finest  artillery  in  the  world,  and  I'd 
blow  'em  to  blazes  sooner  than  stand  their  nonsense." 

"That  is  theoretically  sound,  no  doubt,  my  dear 
Ansell,"  said  Mr.  Mauleverer.  "But  are  you  ab- 
solutely sure  of  your  artillery?" 

"Why,  of  course  I  am,"  said  the  Patriot  at  Large, 

232 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  233 

"  and  so  is  every  man  worthy  of  the  name  of  English- 
man. I'll  stake  every  penny  I  possess  on  the  abso- 
lute loyalty  of  our  troops." 

"That  is  all  right  then,"  said  Mr.  Evan  Maul- 
everer  with  his  rather  affected  lisp.  "That  is  very 
reassuring.  And  is  one  entitled  to  suppose  that 
this  requisition  that  has  been  signed  by  the  non- 
commissioned officers  and  the  rank  and  file  of 
twenty-eight  regiments  for  a  considerable  increase 
of  pay,  better  facilities  of  promotion  to  the  commis- 
sioned ranks,  a  more  liberal  scheme  of  pensions,  and 
more  humane  treatment  of  time-expired  men,  really 
amounts  to  nothing.'*" 

"Practically  nothing,  I  assure  you,  when  the  mon- 
archy is  in  danger.  I  am  absolutely  convinced  that 
our  soldiers  are  loyal  to  a  man,  and  no  Englishman 
worthy  of  the  name  could  ever  bring  himself  to  think 
otherwise." 

"Well,  it  is  very  reassuring,"  said  Mr.  Mauleverer, 
relapsing  into  a  condition  of  impending  somnolence. 
"One  is  being  constantly  reminded  that  the  masses 
are  losing  the  sense  of  romance." 

"Would  you  define  an  Englishman's  loyalty  to 
the  Throne  as  being  based  on  a  sense  of  romance .'' " 

"Yes  —  for  want  of  a  more  exact  definition,"  said 
Mr.  Mauleverer  warily. 

"Oh,  but  surely!"  Mr.  Ansell  spread  his  hands,  a 
gesture  inherited  from   his   chapel-going   forebears. 


234  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Take  away  the  monarchy  and  you  take  away  all 
that  we  have.  An  imperishable  and  unique  tradition. 
Upon  my  word,  Mauleverer,  I  hardly  see  what  it  has 
to  do  with  a  sense  of  romance." 

"Doesn't  it  all  rather  depend,  my  dear  Ansell, 
upon  the  angle  of  vision  at  which  one  happens  to 
see  things.-*"  said  the  leader  of  the  Right,  who 
appeared  to  be  approaching  perilously  near  to  slum- 
ber. "For  example,  those  tin-bellied  donkeys  prowl- 
ing up  and  down  St.  James's  Street  every  blessed 
morning  of  their  lives  are  part  of  a  unique  tradition, 
but  personally  I  was  sick  to  death  at  the  sight  of  'em 
at  the  age  of  two  and  twenty  when  I  was  a  young 
chap  in  the  Guards." 

"My  dear  Mauleverer,"  said  his  colleague,  shocked 
not  a  little,  "  I  am  afraid  you  are  decadent.  Satiated 
with  every  pleasure,  you  appear  to  have  outlived 
every  emotion.  It  is  one  of  the  griefs  of  my  life  that 
I  have  been  so  ill-advised  as  to  send  my  boy  to  Eton. 
The  atmosphere  of  Leeds  Grammar  School,  where 
his  father  was  educated  before  him,  is  in  every  way 
so  much  more  wholesome." 

"I  doubt  whether  you  would  have  got  him  into 
the  Blues  had  Leeds  Grammar  School  been  his  Alma 
Mater,"  murmured  Mr.  Mauleverer.  "Although 
one  has  always  understood  that  that  seat  of  learning 
is  in  every  way  an  admirable  institution." 

"That  is  undoubtedly  the  case,  my  dear  Maul- 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  235 

everer,"  said  Mr.  Ansell  with  enthusiasm.  "At 
Leeds  Grammar  School  they  form  character.  They 
make  men.  I  speak  from  first-hand  experience.  It 
is  there  that  I  received  my  own  early  training." 

"You  do  it  the  very  greatest  credit,  my  dear 
Ansell,"  said  the  leader  of  the  Right,  almost  as  one 
who  talks  in  his  sleep,  "if  I  may  be  allowed  to  say 
so.  But  why,  if  I  may  ask  the  question,  did  you  not 
let  well  alone?  Leeds  Grammar  School  having  ful- 
filled its  functions  so  admirably  in  the  case  of  the 
father,  why  was  it  not  permitted  to  have  a  chance 
with  the  son?" 

"  If  I  must  confess  the  truth,  it  was  simply  that  I 
allowed  myself  to  be  overruled  by  my  wife,"  said 
Mr.  Ansell,  with  a  slight  display  of  embarrassment. 

"Then  you  desire  that  your  wife  should  accept 
sole  responsibility  for  the  workings  of  the  modern 
spirit,  which  apparently  is  unable  to  let  well  alone?" 

"Perhaps,  my  dear  Mauleverer,  if  you  put  it  in 
that  way  I  must  accept  a  little  of  the  responsibility 
myself." 

"I  am  glad  you  do,  my  dear  fellow,  because  that 
will  help  me  to  prove  my  point.  Everything  is  in  a 
state  of  flux.  For  better  or  for  worse  our  ideas 
about  everything  are  changing.  A  generation  back 
the  few  governed  the  many.  Now  the  many  are 
governing  the  few.  I  don't  say  it  is  good,  I  don't 
say  it  is  not  good,  but  I  agree  with  Rockingham  that 


236  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

the  time  has  come  when  we  must  look  the  facts  in 
the  face." 

"Frankly,  my  dear  Mauleverer,  I  am  in  total  dis- 
agreement with  Rockingham  and  yourself.  The 
many  have  never  been  able  to  govern  in  this  country, 
and  they  never  will." 

"It  is  rather  soon  to  begin  disagreeing  with  Rock- 
ingham, isn't  it?"  murmured  the  leader  of  the  Right, 
himself  the  prince  of  reactionaries,  "having  regard 
to  the  fact  that  it  is  only  last  evening  that  he  invited 
you  into  his  Government." 

Thereupon  the  leader  of  the  Right  put  his  feet  on 
the  sofa  on  which  he  sat,  and  gave  himself  up  entirely 
to  the  slumber  which  he  was  no  longer  able  to  resist. 


IV 

CONTRARY  to  expectation,  Loring  returned 
that  evening  in  time  for  dinner.  He  brought 
back  grave  tidings.  A  strong-willed,  resolute  man, 
he  did  not  yield  readily  to  panic,  but  there  could 
be  no  doubt  that  the  country  was  in  the  throes  of  a 
deep  and  organized  revolt  against  the  established 
order.  Not  only  were  the  propertied  classes  in 
danger  of  being  shorn  of  their  possessions,  but  also 
the  monarchy  itself  was  seriously  menaced.  Up 
till  five  o'clock  that  evening,  the  hour  at  which  Lor- 
ing had  left  London,  no  breaches  of  the  peace  had 
been  reported  in  the  metropolis  itself,  but  all  shops, 
offices,  warehouses,  and  public  buildings  were  closed 
and  barricaded;  no  newspapers  were  being  issued; 
every  form  of  business  was  at  a  standstill;  neither 
telephones  nor  telegraphs  were  working;  the  postal 
service  was  suspended;  trains  and  omnibuses  were 
not  running,  and  continual  rumours  were  being 
spread  of  the  grave  condition  of  things  in  the  country. 
The  King  remained  in  town,  but  the  Queen,  yield- 
ing to  the  earnest  entreaties  of  a  hastily  improvised 
committee  of  public  safety,  had  left  London  during 

237 


238  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

the  day  under  a  strong  escort.  A  rumour  was  rife 
that  one  hundred  thousand  miners  from  the  North 
were  marching  upon  the  metropolis.  Moreover,  it 
was  certain  that  if  the  present  condition  of  things 
prevailed  until  that  day  week,  London  and  the  larger 
towns  would  be  in  the  throes  of  famine. 

All  modes  of  transport  had  broken  down.  Ar- 
rangements were  being  made  for  the  military  to  take 
charge  of  the  railways.  Hundreds  of  miles,  however, 
of  permanent  way  were  menaced  by  the  strikers. 
Portions  of  it  were  said  to  have  been  torn  up  already 
at  Derby  and  Crewe.  Thus  there  were  the  gravest 
doubts  as  to  whether  there  were  enough  troops  in 
the  country  efficiently  to  police  the  railway  system. 

It  was  clear  that  almost  without  exception  the 
humbler  ranks  of  industrial  workers  were  organized 
in  a  universal  strike.  The  baker  brought  no  bread, 
the  milk-seller  no  milk,  the  postman  no  letters,  the 
County  Council  scavenger  left  the  streets  of  the 
metropolis  unswept.  There  was  no  'bus,  tube,  tram, 
nor  taxi  to  be  had.  There  was  no  traffic  in  the 
streets.  The  parks  were  infested  with  huge  crowds 
and  raucous  orators.  Hooligans  marched  in  proces- 
sion along  barricaded  thoroughfares,  demanding  the 
right  to  live,  and  displaying  banners  bearing  such 
mottoes  as  England  for  the  English,  Down  with  the 
Plutocracy,  To  Hell  with  the  Jews.  Already  it  had 
been  deemed  necessary  to  station  a  battalion  of  the 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  239 

Grenadier  Guards  round  the  mansion  in  Park  Lane 
of  one  who  upon  a  basis  of  illicit  diamond  buying  had 
raised  a  fortune  of  many  millions.  And  various  emi- 
nent financiers  domiciled  in  the  vicinity  of  Gros- 
venor  Square  were  having  their  residences  guarded 
by  companies  of  distinguished  regiments. 

At  Cloudesley,  Loring's  return  had  been  awaited 
eagerly.  The  leading  members  of  the  Right  there 
assembled  had  come  to  a  decision  already.  It  was 
that  they  should  urge  Rockingham  to  carry  out  the 
King's  wishes  and  form  a  Government  of  his  own. 
They  were  content  that  it  should  include  Fern  and 
Bayliss,  two  moderate  members  of  the  Left;  more- 
over, it  was  to  include  Grundy  and  Draper. 

Still,  it  was  now  clearly  realized  that  James  Draper 
held  the  key  to  the  whole  situation.  Whatever 
Government  might  be  formed  he  was  the  one  indis- 
pensable man.  Without  his  loyal  co-operation  the 
scheme  must  fail.  The  power  of  his  personality  had 
dominated  the  crisis.  It  alone  had  the  power  to 
touch  the  imagination  of  the  masses.  Whoever 
aspired  to  carry  on  the  business  of  the  country  during 
its  present  pass  could  not  afford  to  dispense  with  the 
services  of  this  remarkable  man. 

One  and  all,  however,  assembled  in  that  house 
were  aware  that  in  the  nature  of  things  there  must 
be  a  bitter  enmity  existing  between  Draper  and 
Rockingham.     There  it  was  pretty  clearly  under- 


240  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

stood  that  Draper  and  his  wife  were  no  longer  on 
terms.  Moreover,  they  knew  it  was  idle  to  burke 
the  fact  that  in  this  alienation  Rockingham  counted 
as  a  very  important  factor.  The  question  of  ques- 
tions was,  had  Draper  the  moral  strength  in  the 
supreme  hour  of  his  country's  need  to  rise  above  a 
private  wrong  .f*  Throughout  that  day,  so  big  with 
fate,  whenever  two  persons  found  themselves  together 
in  a  sequestered  corner  of  the  house,  the  subject  was 
discussed  in  hushed  yet  eager  tones. 

Immediately  dinner  was  over  Evan  Mauleverer 
put  his  arm  through  that  of  his  host  and  led  him 
apart.  Mauleverer,  a  former  Prime  Minister  and 
the  official  leader  of  the  Right,  was  a  man  of  immense 
ability.  Unfortunately,  his  wilfully  and  rather 
perversely  narrow  mental  horizon  had  caused  him 
to  become  utterly  discredited  in  the  countiry.  Not 
only  was  he  wholly  out  of  sympathy  with  the  aspira- 
tions of  the  masses,  but  he  was  convinced  that  they 
were  a  menace  to  the  country's  welfare.  He  held 
the  opinion  that  universal  education  was  all  very 
well  as  an  academic  theory,  but  that  it  broke  down 
entirely  as  a  working  hypothesis.  In  his  view  it 
was  a  tragic  mistake  for  any  country  to  educate  its 
proletariat.  He  had  been  the  author  of  the  Con- 
scription Bill.  In  the  teeth  of  tremendous  opposition 
he  had  carried  it  to  a  third  reading  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  by  so  doing  had  struck  an  almost 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  241 

irremediable  blow  at  the  prestige  of  his  party.  In 
the  privacy  of  social  intercourse,  however,  he  was  a 
remarkable  and  considerable  figure. 

When  they  were  entrenched  comfortably  in  a 
quiet  corner  with  their  coffee  and  cigars,  Loring  said : 

"I  want  your  advice,  Evan." 

Mauleverer  gazed  at  his  host  with  a  rather  quiz- 
zical air. 

"Before  I  give  it,  my  dear  fellow,"  he  said,  "what- 
ever the  nature  of  it  may  be,  I  would  like  to  ask  a 
question.     Is  Draper  coming  down  here  to-morrow  ?" 

"Yes,"  said  Loring.  "I  understand  that  to  be 
his  intention." 

The  leader  of  the  Right  nodded  his  head. 

" I'll  confess,"  he  said,  "that  I  didn't  for  a  moment 
think  he  would." 

"Nor  I,"  said  Loring.  "But,  as  Robert  says,  he's 
a  man  about  whom  It  doesn't  do  to  anticipate.  When 
I  got  to  the  Palace  I  found  the  beggar  installed  as  a 
kind  of  generalissimo.  We  held  a  kind  of  council 
of  war.  He  sat  on  the  King's  right  hand,  and  Rich- 
ards and  Mitchener  on  his  left." 

Evan  Mauleverer  raised  his  eyebrows  slightly. 

"The  President  of  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety, 
ehr"  he  said.  "But  why  a  civilian?  Why  not 
Mitchener?" 

"Well,  I  gathered  that  the  King  rather  insisted 
on  it." 


242  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Very  unwise?" 

"It  seems  so  to  most  people.  From  what  one  or 
two  of  the  household  chaps  say,  he  seems  to  have 
got  the  top  side  of  the  King  altogether." 

"What  do  Richards  and  Mitchener  say  about 
it?" 

"Well,  they  seem  to  think  it  is  a  job  for  a  civilian 
at  present.  They  say  that  if  they  have  to  take  it  in 
hand  nothing  can  save  bloodshed." 

"Who  said  that.?" 

"Both  of  'em.  They  think  that  Draper  is  the 
only  man  who  can  possibly  avert  civil  war." 

Evan  Mauleverer  pensively  stirred  his  coffee. 

"If  that  is  the  case,"  he  said,  speaking  very  slowly, 
"to  my  mind  the  remedy  is  rather  worse  than  the 
disease." 

"  I  am  inclined  to  think  you  are  right,  Evan,"  said 
Loring,  with  his  accustomed  bluntness.  "That 
fellow  is  playing  a  double  game.  He  plays  for  the 
people  one  minute  and  he  plays  for  us  the  next." 

"And  he  comes  down  here  to-morrow?" 

"Yes,  that's  his  present  intention." 

"To  meet  Robert?" 

"Ostensibly  to  meet  Robert." 

"Does  he  know  his  wife  is  here?" 

"Evelyn  says  he  does." 

"Ha!  — you've  seen  her." 

^*Yes,   I  just  had  time  to  call  at  Rockingham 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  243 

House.  I  thought  it  just  as  well  to  get  to  know  all 
there  was  to  be  known.'* 

"Quite  so." 

Mr.  Mauleverer  smiled. 

"  She  is  certainly  the  ablest  woman  in  England," 
said  he. 

"And  to  my  mind  she  is  the  most  enigmatical." 

"She's  always  been  beyond  me,"  said  Loring. 

"But,  then,  I  admit  I'm  a  dunce.  But  she's  made 
up  her  mind  to  do  what  I  am  certain  is  absolutely  the 
unwisest  thing  she  can  do." 

"What's  that?"  inquired  Evan  Mauleverer,  wear- 
ing the  cloak  of  indifference  a  little  less  effectually 
than  usual. 

"We  are  now  coming  to  the  subject  I  want  your 
advice  upon." 

"Well,  my  dear  fellow?"  Evan  Mauleverer's 
quizzical  eyes  were  only  half-veiled. 

"Evelyn  is  coming  down  here  some  time  to-night. 
Alice  is  in  a  terrible  rage.  She  is  capable  of  refusing 
her  house-room." 

Evan  Mauleverer  pensively  smoked  his  cigar. 

"My  dear  Loring,"  he  said  at  last,  "it  seems  to  me 
that  all  of  us  are  getting  pretty  hopelessly  into  the 
mire.     What  on  earth  is  she  coming  here  for? " 

"She  seems  to  think  she  may  be  able  to  help  us 
a  bit." 

"My  God!" 


244  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

Mr.  Mauleverer's  invocation  of  the  Deity  seemed 
to  afford  him  little  consolation. 

"It  is  sheer  madness,  my  dear  fellow,  for  her  to 
come  down  here ! " 

"  I  told  her  so,"  said  the  master  of  Cloudesley. 

"And  what  did  she  say  to  that?" 

"She  seemed  to  think  I  was  too  big  a  dunce  to 
have  any  opinion  on  the  subject." 

"But  surely  you  told  her,  my  dear  fellow,  that  her 
presence  here  was  bound  to  aggravate  a  situation 
that  was  already  almost  intolerable.?" 

"Yes,  of  course.  But  she  is  a  very  self-willed 
woman." 

A  frown  knitted  the  intellectual  front  of  Mr.  Evan 
Mauleverer. 

"She  is  not  showing  her  usual  good  sense,"  he  said. 

"One  is  bound  to  admit  that.  What  in  the  world 
can  she  hope  to  do?" 

"There's  no  saying,  my  dear  Evan.  There's  no 
accounting  for  a  woman's  mind.  But  with  her 
coming  down  to-night,  and  her  friend  the  '  Haber- 
dasher' coming  down  to-morrow,  everything  seems 
to  point  to  our  having  a  pretty  lively  week-end." 

"Yes,  by  Gad!"  agreed  Mr.  Evan  Mauleverer. 

"What  I  want  to  know  is,  what's  to  be  done  about 
Aline?     This  house  is  going  to  be  no  place  for  her." 

Mr.  Mauleverer  pondered  at  rather  considerable 
length. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  245 

"Aline  can  be  trusted  to  take  care  of  herself,  can't 
she?"  he  said  at  last. 

"Ye-es,  one  would  suppose.  But  is  Draper  to  be 
trusted?  —  that  is  the  point." 

"Trusted  for  what?" 

"To  behave  like  a  gentleman." 

"Ha,  there  you  have  me,"  said  Mr.  Evan  Maui- 
everer.     "Hardly  the  horse  for  that  course,  eh?  " 

"You  think  he  is  capable  of  making  himself 
damned  unpleasant?" 

"Certainly  capable,  but  hardly  likely." 

"Well,  he'd  got  a  pretty  queer  look  in  his  eyes 
when  he  said  he  was  coming  down  here  to-morrow 
to  confer  with  Rockingham." 

"Did  he  ask  whether  his  wife  was  still  here?" 

"No,  he  never  mentioned  her." 

Mr.  Mauleverer  grew  reflective. 

"Well,"  he  said  finally,  "if  the  man  is  the  patriot 
he  is  represented  to  be,  he  will  be  content  to  forget 
all  domesticities  at  such  a  time  as  this." 

Loring  shook  his  head  despondently. 

"We'll  hope  so,  at  any  rate,"  he  said.  "But  he's 
a  rough  devil,  I'm  certain.  Although,  mind  you, 
he  is  a  big  man  in  his  way." 

"The  question  is,  my  dear  fellow,  is  he  a  big 
enough  man  to  keep  the  King  upon  his  throne,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  exact  his  pound  of  flesh  from 
Rockingham  ? " 


246  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Personally,  I  would  say  yes." 

"That  is  to  say,  you  think  he  is  entitled  to  his 
pound  of  flesh  from  that  quarter?" 

"Do  you  press  the  question?" 

"Yes,  I  do  rather.  Leaving  this  unpleasant  game 
of  politics  out  of  the  case,  tell  me  what  is  the  precise 
view  you  take  of  I'affaire  Rockingham?" 

"Well,  as  Robert  is  my  guest,  I  think  I'd  prefer 
not  to  express  it." 

"But  I  particularly  want  your  opinion,  my  dear 
fellow.  This  is  a  matter  upon  which  I  crave  for 
guidance.  Before  to-morrow  is  out  we  may  all  have 
to  crave  it.  Let  me  put  it  in  this  form:  Has 
anything  occurred  within,  shall  we  say,  the  past 
forty-eight  hours  to  change  your  views  in  regard 
to  Robert." 

Loring  hesitated. 

"Well,  Evan,"  he  said  at  last,  "if  you  press  the 
question  I  am  bound  to  say  my  view  of  Robert  has 
changed  a  good  bit  lately." 

"I  feared  it." 

In  spite  of  an  air  of  detachment  that  never  deserted 
him,  Evan  Mauleverer  was  visibly  discomposed. 

"Well,  Fm  sorry,"  he  said.  "Fm  sincerely  sorry. 
This  poor  old  land  of  ours  never  had  such  a  need  of  a 
straight  man,  of  a  man  who  was  absolutely  straight 
in  every  relation  of  life." 


A  PAUSE  followed  upon  the  expression  of  this 
dictum  by  the  leader  of  the  Right.     Both  men 
looked  a  little  uneasy. 

"You  see  the  dilemma?"  said  Loring  at  last. 

"In  regard  to  Draper's  wife.^" 

"Yes.  I  don't  like  to  go  over  the  mark,  but  I 
call  a  spade  a  spade.  I'm  convinced  Robert  has  used 
Aline  as  his  tool  in  order  that  he  might  score  off  her 
husband." 

Evan  Mauleverer  stayed  his  host  with  an  elegantly 
uplifted  hand.  Loring's  bluntness  was  proverbial, 
but  there  were  occasions  when  it  was  a  little  too  much 
for  a  fastidious  mind. 

"My  dear  fellow,"  said  the  leader  of  the  Right, 
"pray  don't  forget  that  we  are  all  of  us  pledged  to  sit 
in  a  Rockingham  Cabinet." 

"  I'm  not  a  politician  myself,"  said  the  incorrigible 
Loring,  "and  I  thank  my  God  I'm  not." 

Mr.  Mauleverer  was  fain  to  smile,  in  spite  of  the 
discomposure  he  was  suffering.  But  his  state  of 
mind  did  not  allow  him  to  stray  far  from  the  subject 
in  hand. 

247 


248  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Tell  me,  my  dear  fellow,"  he  said,  "what  is 
responsible  for  this  rather  sudden  change  of  heart?" 

"Do  you  mean  in  regard  to  Rockingham?" 

"Yes." 

"Well,  partly  it  is  due  to  Evelyn,  whom  with  all 
her  crochets  I  believe  to  be  an  honest  woman,  and 
partly  to  something  that  Aline  said  to  my  wife." 

"At  all  events,  my  lord  duke  appears  to  have  cast 
a  considerable  amount  of  dust  in  the  eyes  of  the 
King." 

"Not  a  very  difficult  proceeding.  But  by  no 
means  so  much,  Evan,  as  you'd  think.  Anyhow, 
I'm  not  sure  that  the  King  has  not  been  on  the  right 
horse  from  the  start." 

"Draper?" 

"Yes.  He  has  the  whole  country  behind  him  now, 
and  with  all  respect  to  you  fellows  he  is  the  only  man 
who  can  keep  things  in  hand." 

"We  shall  see  what  we  shall  see,"  said  Mr.  Evan 
Mauleverer  stoically.  "To-morrow  may  tell  us 
something." 

"Yes,  I  think  it  will.  But  to  return  to  the  sub- 
ject of  Aline.  I  should  like  her  to  leave  this  house 
before  Draper  arrives." 

"Why?" 

"Mark  my  words,  Evan,  that's  an  ugly  devil  when 
he's  crossed." 

"But  what  can  he  do?" 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  249 

"He  can  make  himself  damned  unpleasant." 

"In  what  way?" 

"There  are  several  ways  open  to  an  injured  hus- 
band. I  say  frankly  that  I  would  give  a  good  deal 
for  the  fellow  not  to  be  coming  down  here." 

"But  you  don't  think  he  will  be  such  a  fool  as  to 
make  a  public  exhibition  of  himself!  He's  much  too 
calculating,  and  he  has  himself  too  well  in  hand." 

"Maybe.  At  any  rate  we'll  hope  so.  But  you 
can't  trust  a  man  of  that  type  —  that's  my  feeling. 
Anyhow,  I'd  give  a  good  deal  for  him  not  to  be  com- 
ing down  here  to-morrow." 

"I  also,  if  it  comes  to  that.  And  if  your  diagnosis 
is  accurate  it  makes  it  practically  impossible  for  him 
to  sit  in  a  Rockingham  Cabinet?" 

"Of  course  it  does." 

"Well,  what's  the  alternative?" 

"A  cabinet  of  his  own,  I  expect." 

"Do  you  believe  such  a  cabinet  to  be  possible?" 

"Don't  you?" 

No  reply  to  the  question  was  forthcoming  from 
the  Leader  of  the  Right. 

Both  these  men,  staunch  representatives  of  an 
order  of  things  that  was  literally  fighting  for  existence 
with  its  back  to  the  wall,  made  no  attempt  to  cloak 
their  feelings.  In  their  different  ways  they  were  both 
men  of  wide  experience.  But  events  had  moved 
at  such  an  alarming  rate  during  the  past  few  days 


250  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

that  they  were  conscious  of  having  been  carried  out 
of  their  depth  by  an  interplay  of  forces  they  were 
powerless  to  resist.  Not  only  had  they  completely 
lost  their  bearings,  but  somehow  they  seemed  to  have 
lost  their  foothold  in  the  world.  Versed  as  they  were 
in  many  kinds  of  affairs,  they  did  not  know  in  the 
least  how  to  gauge  the  elements  which  were  striking 
a  succession  of  terrible,  paralyzing  blows  at  all  that 
they  stood  for. 

This  sinister  and  deep-seated  uneasiness  was 
common  to  every  person  under  that  roof.  All  were 
by  this  time  aware  that  the  fate  of  the  country 
depended  on  a  single  man  —  upon  a  man  whom  from 
the  depths  of  their  souls  they  disliked  and  despised. 
No  true-blue  member  of  the  Right  had  ever  deigned 
to  dissemble  his  feelings  in  regard  to  the  President 
of  the  Board  of  Conciliation,  and  now  that  their 
personal  interests  together  with  those  of  the  nation 
at  large  were  about  to  be  given  over  to  him  they  had 
not  the  slightest  reason  to  expect  the  leniency  that 
they  themselves  would  have  been  the  last  to  grant. 

That  evening,  a  little  before  eleven  o'clock,  Eve- 
lyn Rockingham  arrived  from  town  by  motor-car. 
Her  entrance  into  the  dismayed  Cloudesley  drawing- 
room,  dressed  with  all  the  careful  but  rather  severe 
simplicity  she  affected  at  an  evening  party,  was  a 
splendid  piece  of  comedy,  although  it  called  un- 
doubtedly for  an  esprit  fort  to  carry  it  off. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  251 

The  hostess  turned  pale  as  she  rose  to  receive  the 
uninvited  guest.  Herself  a  woman  of  strong  char- 
acter, she  knew  well  enough  how  to  sustain  the  dig- 
nity of  her  position.  Her  reception  of  the  intruder 
was  the  reverse  of  cordial,  although  only  a  woman 
could  have  told  that  cordiality  was  not  intended. 
In  any  circumstances,  however,  and  at  whatever  dis- 
advantage she  might  be  placed,  Evelyn  Rockingham 
was  a  great-spirited  woman,  and  more  than  a  match 
for  any  member  of  her  own  sex. 

"My  dear  Evelyn,"  was  the  hostess's  greeting 
in  her  rather  high-pitched  voice,  "this  is  an  unex- 
pected pleasure." 

Absolutely  direct  and  unconventional  in  speech, 
manner,  and  deed,  Evelyn  Rockingham  placed  a  hand 
on  each  of  Alice  Loring's  shoulders,  although  she  must 
have  been  aware  that  behind  her  smile  of  welcome 
the  mistress  of  Cloudesley  was  seething  with  anger. 

"I  felt  I  must  come,"  said  Evelyn.  "I  felt  bound 
to  come.  I  can  appreciate  your  feelings,  my  dear, 
but  it  simply  had  to  be.  England  is  more  than  any 
of  us,  although  you'll  think  that's  cant.  But  I'll 
risk  that.  I  don't  care  what  you  think,  my  dear. 
I  don't  care  what  any  of  you  think."  With  a  high 
imperious  gesture  she  suddenly  flung  up  her  fine 
head  and  met  unflinchingly  the  circle  of  astonished 
faces  that  formed  a  background  to  the  room.  "I 
am  beyond  caring  what  any  of  you  think."     There 


252  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

was  a  curious,  an  almost  perilous,  quiver,  in  the  voice. 
"Except"  —  her  voice  almost  failed — "except  you, 
my  dear,  dear  Lord  Peveril!" 

As  she  spoke  she  strode  past  Alice  Loring  across 
the  wide  drawing-room  to  where  a  venerable  white- 
bearded  man  sat  very  upright  in  a  straight-backed 
chair.  Impulsively  she  extended  both  her  hands, 
and  at  the  same  instant  the  wonderful  eyes  set  deep 
in  the  haggard  cheeks  brimmed  tears. 

The  old  man,  very  frail  and  ascetic  looking,  rose 
slowly  to  greet  her.  He  yielded  his  gaunt  hands  in 
response  to  hers,  and  the  gesture  had  in  it  all  the 
tenderness  of  a  father  receiving  a  favourite  daughter. 

"Quite  right,  quite  right,  dear  child,"  he  said  in 
a  voice  that  was  very  gentle;  "if  you  think  you  can 
help  us,  ever  so  little.     I  am  sure  we  all  feel  that." 

In  his  capacity  of  host  Loring  strode  across  the 
room. 

"Delighted  to  see  you,  Evelyn,"  he  said  with 
a  rough  cordiality  which  made  an  effect  of  absolute 
sincerity,  whether  it  was  entitled  to  do  so  or  not. 
"Always  delighted  to  see  you.  In  this  house,  and  at 
anytime,  you  are  always  welcome.  At  such  a  time 
as  this  you  are  more  than  welcome." 

Evelyn's  response  was  frank  and  immediate. 

"Thank  you,  Loring,"  she  said,  with  her  noble  air. 
"You  deserve  well  of  your  country  —  far  better 
than  some  of  'em.    Yes,  I  mean  you,  Evan,  for  one." 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  253 

Half  the  room  was  included  in  her  brilliant  sweeping 
gesture.  "You  are  too  much  of  a  Briton,  Loring, 
to  misjudge  me  at  such  a  time  as  this.  But  I  don't 
intend  to  put  Alice  out.  I  have  engaged  a  room  at 
the  inn  in  the  village  —  the  Coach  and  Horses  — 
where  I  shall  sleep." 

The  host  was  very  firm,  however. 

"No,  Evelyn,  "  he  said,  "we  can't  allow  that. 
House-room  is  not  so  scarce  as  all  that.  Here  you 
are,  and  here  you've  got  to  stay  —  that's  if  you'll 
honour  us." 


VI 

EVELYN  ROCKINGHAM'S  arrival  had  aston- 
ished everybody.  Her  audacity  was  proverbial. 
In  all  her  actions  she  was  a  law  unto  herself; 
but  in  the  opinion  of  a  majority  of  the  guests  a 
surprise  visit  to  Cloudesley  in  such  circumstances 
was  merely  a  piece  of  insolent  foolhardiness.  But 
even  the  Evelyn  Rockinghams  of  the  world  do  not 
act  entirely  from  caprice.  What  had  brought  her 
down  there.?  was  the  question  each  person  asked  of 
his  or  her  neighbour. 

Lady  Aline  was  seated  on  a  distant  sofa,  half 
hidden  in  a  recess,  and  Rockingham  was  by  her  side. 
They  had  hardly  paused  in  their  conversation  when 
the  unwelcome  guest  had  entered  the  room,  and 
they  proceeded  completely  to  ignore  her  presence. 
Those  near  to  them,  however,  who  happened  to  have 
a  nose  for  drama,  were  by  no  means  insensible  of 
theirs.  Veiled  and  stealthy  glances  were  levelled 
in  their  direction  from  time  to  time.  Certainly  the 
situation  was  piquant;  and  the  mask  of  consummate 
indifference  presented  by  the  chief  personages  in  it 
was  felt  to  be  acting  of  the  highest  order. 

254 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  255 

Evelyn  herself,  accustomed  by  divine  right  of 
personality  to  dominate  all  assemblies  in  which  she 
happened  to  be,  was  of  course  the  cynosure  of  every 
eye.  After  a  little  tour  of  greeting  she  seated  herself 
on  a  sofa  by  the  side  of  the  venerable  Lord  Peveril. 
He  was  her  godfather;  and  if  hardly  a  great,  he  was 
certainly  a  very  high,  type  of  man.  He  had  sound 
judgment,  high  principles,  and  an  almost  passionate 
devotion  to  his  country.  Had  he  been  anything  of  a 
publicist  he  might,  without  impropriety,  have  now 
stood  in  the  place  of  Rockingham.  His  name  ap- 
peared seldom  in  the  newspapers,  yet  he  had  been 
the  familiar  friend  and  the  chosen  adviser  of  three 
sovereigns.  Those  who  moved  in  the  inner  circles 
of  politics  and  society  knew  that  in  some  things  he 
possessed  an  almost  unique  authority.  He  had 
always  stood  aloof  from  party;  his  voice  had  never 
been  heard  in  "the  gilded  chamber,"  but  for  thirty 
years  he  had  been  a  power  behind  the  throne. 

He  had  come  to  Cloudesley  at  the  request  of  the 
King.  The  members  of  the  Right  were  perhaps 
better  able  to  appraise  his  worth  than  any  other 
political  section.  They  were  not  a  little  grateful 
for  his  presence.  Of  advice  he  had  been  sparing, 
as  was  his  wont,  for  like  most  men  of  weight  he  was 
not  a  great  talker.  But  he  had  counselled  absolute 
loyalty  to  Rockingham,  since  Rockingham  in  a 
sense  was  the  nominee  of  the  Throne. 


256  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

He  had  a  real  affection  for  his  god-daughter,  now 
seated  by  his  side.  He  had  been  the  husband  of  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  women  of  the  time,  and  like 
all  men  of  a  high  type  he  had  known  how  to  love 
and  to  admire.  He  held  an  exalted  opinion  of 
women  without  idealizing  them  unduly.  They  were 
essential  to  the  human  race,  and  they  also  ennobled 
it.  Such  a  man  was  not  likely  to  misjudge  a  woman 
of  the  quality  of  Evelyn  Rockingham. 

"You  don't  censure  me,  Lord  Peveril.?"  she  said 
in  a  very  low,  half-pleading  voice. 

"Censure  you  for  what,  my  dear?" 

The  old  man  took  one  of  the  exquisitely  formed 
hands,  entirely  innocent  of  feminine  adornment, 
fondly  into  his  keeping. 

"For  coming  here  to-night." 

"On  the  contrary,  I  think  it  particularly  right,  if 
in  any  way  you  feel  you  can  help  us. " 

Evelyn  drew  a  sigh  of  relief. 

"I  am  so  glad  you  have  not  lost  your  confidence 
in  me.     I  hope  you  will  always  trust  me." 

"I  will  always  do  that,"  said  the  old  man,  very 
gently. 

She  placed  her  other  hand  very  tenderly  in  his. 

"You  cannot  think  how  glad  I  am  to  hear  you  say 
that,  dear  friend.  There  is  only  one  other  person 
in  the  country  for  whose  opinion  I  have  an  equal 
respect. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  257 

"You  are  too  kind,  my  dear.     Far,  far  too  kind.'* 

"There  is  only  one  other  man  I  have  met  who  has 
your  perception." 

"You  rate  me  far  too  highly,  my  dear.  But  do 
you  mind  telling  me  the  name  of  this  paladin.'*" 

"I  think  you  ought  to  be  able  to  guess. " 

"Robert.''"  There  was  a  mischievous  twinkle  in 
the  eyes  of  the  old  man. 

"You  mustn't  trifle  with  me,"  she  said. 

"Well,  I'm  afraid  it  isn't  Evan  Mauleverer,  with 
all  his  merits.  Grundy  always  strikes  one  as  a  good 
and  sincere  man.     Him  do  you  mean.'"' 

"No;  although  I  am  convinced  he  is  quite  a  good 
man  as  far  as  he  goes.  No,  I  mean  the  President 
of  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety. " 

"Ha!  Well,  you  know  him  better  than  I  do,  my 
dear.     The  King  certainly  thinks  well  of  him. " 

"And  you,  Lord  Peveril?"  The  tone  was  not 
without  a  note  of  slight  anxiety. 

Lord  Peveril  was  silent. 

"You  see,"  he  said,  "one  has  had  so  few  oppor- 
tunities of  judging  the  man.  I  have  met  him  only 
twice  in  my  life.  He  impresses  one  with  his  force  — 
the  kind  of  force  that  Gladstone  had.  But  you  know, 
my  dear,  it  isn't  ever  very  easy  to  make  a  silk  purse. " 

"Out  of  the  wrong  material.'  Yes,  my  dear  lord, 
but  isn't  there  a  danger  of  jumping  a  little  too  hastily 
to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  the  wrong  material.^ 


2s8  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

Appearances  are  apt  to  be  deceptive,  aren't  they? 
One  expects  you  to  have  a  bias  in  favour  of  birth. 
We  all  have  that.  It  is  only  natural.  But  don't 
let  us  forget  that  it  isn't  birth  that  produces  genius." 

"What  is  it,  then,  my  dear?" 

"I  must  refer  you  to  the  Eugenists.  But  singu- 
larly few  men  of  the  very  first  rank  have  come  out 
of  our  class." 

"I  am  not  so  sure  about  that,  my  dear,"  said  the 
old  aristocrat,  shaking  his  head  rather  dubiously. 

"There  can  be  no  doubt  of  it,"  said  his  god- 
daughter, with  the  conviction  that  was  a  part  of 
her  charm. 

"Well,  even  if  it  is  so,"  said  the  old  man  with  a 
gallant  refusal  to  contest  the  point,  "do  you  put  this 
man  Draper  in  absolutely  the  front  rank?" 

"Yes." 

"I  am  interested  to  hear  you  say  that.  Heaven 
knows,  we  never  had  a  greater  need  of  such  a  one. " 

"Well,  we  have  him.  And  I  think  he  is  going  to 
save  his  country,  if  only  his  country  will  give  him 
the  chance." 

"What  sort  of  a  chance  can  she  give  him,  my 
dear?" 

"She  must  make  him  her  next  Prime  Minister." 

"But  that's  impossible.  These  fellows  here 
wouldn't  hear  of  it.  Besides,  the  King  has  nom- 
inated Robert." 


i 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  259 

"Yes,  but  the  country  has  nominated  Draper." 

"Then  it  would  seem  that  he  will  have  to  choose 
between  the  country  and  the  King. " 

"  I  pray  not.     That  way  lies  civil  war. " 

"But  in  any  case  he  is  hardly  likely  to  desert  the 
Throne." 

"  I  am  sure  he  will  not.  But  the  Throne  must  not 
desert  him.  And  I  appeal  to  you,  my  dear  lord,  to 
throw  the  whole  weight  of  your  personal  authority 
into  the  scale  if  you  would  save  the  country. " 

The  old  man  sat  gravely  silent.  After  all,  this 
was  only  the  expression  of  a  woman's  opinion,  but 
Evelyn  Rockingham  was  a  woman  whom  he  had 
learned  to  respect  immensely.  Her  opinion,  more- 
over, confirmed  others  that  had  recently  come  to  his 
his  ears. 

"I  must  confess,"  said  the  old  man  at  length, 
"that  it  seems  impossible  at  the  eleventh  hour  to  go 
back  on  the  King's  nominee. " 

"But  if  the  King  withdraws  his  nomination?" 

"Ah,  then!  Yet  in  the  circumstances  that  is 
impossible  too.  Robert  has  formed  his  ministry, 
I  understand." 

"Is  Mr.  Draper  in  it?" 

"He  is  to  be  President  of  the  Board  of  Conciliation, 
I  understand." 

"Has  he  accepted  the  office?" 

"Provisionally,   I  believe.     At  any  rate  he  has 


i6o  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

promised  to  come  here  to-morrow  to  confer  with 
Robert." 

"And  that  promise  is  held  to  be  tantamount  to 
acceptance  of  office?"  she  asked  rather  breathlessly. 

"Yes,"  said  Lord  Peveril,  "that  is  the  view  that 
is  held  by  them  all.  And  let  us  pray  it  is  not  a 
mistaken  one." 

Evelyn  was  visibly  cast  down. 

"  I  feel  sure,"  she  said,  "  they  are  not  entitled  to 
jump  to  any  such  conclusion.  And,  I  will  go 
further.  In  my  own  mind  I  am  absolutely  convinced 
that  he  will  decline  to  accept  office  under  Robert. 
And  if  he  does  decline,  where  will  the  country 
be  then?" 

Lord  Peveril  shook  his  head  sorrowfully. 

"There  you  have  me,"  he  said.  "That  is  a 
contingency  that  not  a  man  of  them  appears  able  to 
face.  But  if  Draper  has  the  welfare  of  the  country 
at  heart  it  is  hardly  a  contingency  that  is  likely  to 
arise.  After  all,  he  is  in  very  close  touch  with 
the  King." 

"Yes,  Lord  Peveril,  but  he  has  been  used  so 
shamefully. " 

"By  whom?" 

"  By  the  Right,  and  more  particularly  by  Robert. " 

Lord  Peveril  grew  silent.  Somehow  the  directness 
of  his  god-daughter  seemed  to  embarrass  him.  For 
her  own  part  she  did  not  know  how  to  gauge  the 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  26:1 

measure  of  his  information,  nor  did  she  know  how 
far  it  might  be  accurate. 

Of  one  harsh  fact,  however,  she  was  aware:  The 
political  enemies  of  Draper  had  not  scrupled  merci- 
lessly to  misrepresent  the  nature  of  her  own  intimacy 
with  him.  Enormous  capital  had  been  made  out 
of  it.  Lord  Peveril,  an  honest,  simple,  and  upright 
man,  had  had  no  means  of  learning  the  truth. 

She  recognized  that  it  was  not  a  moment  for  half 
measures.  So  much  might  depend  upon  the  line 
taken  by  this  old  man. 

"There  is  one  question  I  must  ask  you,  my  kind 
friend,"  she  said.  "Are  you  aware  that  Robert  has 
come  between  this  man  and  his  wife?" 

"  I  am  not  aware  of  it^ "  said  Lord  Peveril. 

"Between  Aline  and  her  husband!  At  the  in- 
stance of  Robert  she  has  left  her  husband's  house, 
never  to  return  to  it. " 

"I  was  not  aware  of  the  fact,"  said  Lord  Peveril 
rather  coldly. 

"Robert  has  urged  the  contemptible  pretext  that 
Aline  is  entitled  to  avenge  herself. " 

"Upon  whom.''" 

"Upon  her  husband,  because  of  his  alleged  liaison 
with  myself." 

A  look  of  pain  overshadowed  Lord  Peveril's 
sensitive  face. 

"Please    forgive    me,"    said    his    god-daughter, 


262  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"but  I  have  come  here  partly  that  you,  upon  whom 
so  much  depends,  shall  learn  the  truth.  Robert's 
jealousy  has  led  him  to  play  a  contemptible  part. 
I  ask  you  to  believe  me  when  I  say  that  no  act  of 
mine  has  given  him  the  slightest  warrant  for  enter- 
taining it.  I  swear  before  God  that  my  relations 
with  Mr.  Draper  have  been  perfectly  honourable. 
Our  friendship  has  been  based  upon  an  intense  desire, 
which  we  have  in  common,  for  the  country's  welfare. 
In  some  ways  I  may  have  been  a  little  indiscreet, 
but  there  is  not  the  slightest  foundation  for  the 
charge  that  has  been  brought  against  me.  I  feel 
it  to  be  right,  Lord  Peveril,  that  you  should  know 
this.  Robert's  jealousy  is  wholly  unwarranted,  and 
he  has  made  use  of  it  in  the  most  contemptible  and 
merciless  way  in  order  to  compass  the  ruin  of  a 
political  adversary." 

The  look  of  pain  deepened  upon  Lord  Peveril's 
face.     He  remained  silent. 

"It  is  absolutely  necessary.  Lord  Peveril,  that 
this  should  be  known  to  you.  And  I  ask  you  to 
believe  me." 

She  turned  her  fine  eyes  full  upon  her  venerable 
companion.  An  acute  distress  was  in  both  their 
faces. 

"My  dear,  I  do  believe  you,"  said  the  old  man. 

"Thank  you,  my  kind  friend."  There  were  tears 
in  her  eyes.      "And  now,  do  you  not  see  how  im- 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  263 

possible  it  is  that  Mr.  Draper  can  sit  in  a  Rocking- 
ham Cabinet?" 

"But  it  is  the  King's  desire,"  said  Lord  Peveril 
in  an  agitated  voice.  "The  fate  of  the  country 
depends  upon  Mr.  Draper's  loyal  co-operation. " 

"Yes,  I  know." 

"It  is  a  terrible  test,"  said  the  old  man,  "but  if 
the  man  is  a  true  patriot  I  think  we  may  still  hope." 

"Yes,  but  is  it  not  asking  too  much  of  any  man?" 

"I  have  lived  in  strange  times,"  said  Lord  Peveril. 
"I  have  seen  strange  things  happen,  I  have  mixed 
freely  with  all  sorts  of  people,  but  the  more  I  see  and 
the  more  I  know,  the  greater  is  my  faith  in  human 
nature.  If  this  man  is  all  that  you  believe  him  to 
be,  he  will  not  fail  his  country  in  the  supreme  hour." 

The  words  were  those  of  a  seer.  Evelyn,  who  had 
a  deep  reverence  for  the  speaker,  was  strangely 
moved  by  them.  Moreover,  her  courage  rose. 
Somehow  she  felt  sustained  in  the  most  difficult  and 
hazardous  course  she  was  determined  to  follow. 
She  was  daring  all.  A  much  maligned,  a  much 
misunderstood  woman,  she  had  made  up  her  mind 
that  the  true  facts  of  the  case  should  be  known. 
There  should  be  neither  pretext  nor  excuse  for  un- 
sympathetic or  hostile  action. 

Lord  Peveril  believed  her.  That  was  clear  gain. 
To  have  him  learn  the  truth  meant  much.  But 
others  must  learn  it  too. 


VII 

As  Lady  Aline  was  lighting  her  bedroom  candle 
in  the  hall,  she  was  surprised  by  a  voice  at 
her  side. 

"Let  us  talk  for  a  few  minutes.  May  I  come 
to  your  room?" 

With  a  slight  flush  of  annoyance  she  turned  to 
discover  Evelyn  Rockingham  at  her  elbow.  Open 
rudeness  was  against  her  code,  but  her  instinct  was 
to  escape  with  her  candle  as  speedily  as  she  could, 
and  entirely  to  Ignore  the  presence  of  her  rival. 

It  is  not  easy,  however,  to  ignore  the  Evelyn 
Rocklnghams  of  the  world. 

"Let  us  talk,  my  dear  child,"  she  said  with  a 
gentle  insistence.  "Your  room  will  be  best.  We 
can  have  privacy  there. " 

Without  further  preface,  and  with  perfect  self- 
possession,  she  accompanied  the  younger  woman 
to  her  room.  Neither  spoke  as  they  passed  up  the 
stairs.  Evelyn  was  only  too  well  aware  of  the 
contemptuous  hostility  that  was  smouldering  in  the 
other's  heart. 

They   entered   Allne's   bedroom.     Evelyn   closed 

264 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  265 

the  door.  Then  she  seized  two  stone-cold  hands 
in  her  own  vital  grasp. 

"My  dear  child,"  she  said,  "I  have  come  down 
here  to-night  with  a  particular  purpose  in  view. 
You  are  most  necessary  to  the  fulfilment  of  that 
purpose.  I  insist  that  you  hear  what  I  have  to 
say." 

The  contempt  in  the  eyes  of  the  younger  woman 
was  almost  cruel. 

"I  have  no  wish  to  hear  anything  you  may  have 
to  say  to  me, "  she  said  slowly,  without  vehemence. 
"I  have  not  the  slightest  wish  that  you  should 
speak  to  me." 

"That  I  know  well  enough,"  said  Evelyn.  "It 
would  be  surprising  if  you  had,  since  you  have 
always  judged  me  so  mistakenly.  I  do  not  blame 
you  for  that.  Wiser  people  have  been  equally  at 
fault,  and  they  have  not  had  your  excuse. " 

The  younger  woman  had  grown  deadly  white. 
The  eyes,  steady  with  the  light  of  anger,  shone  cold 
and  clear. 

"I  cannot,  I  will  not,  talk  to  you,"  she  said. 

As  she  spoke  she  moved  toward  the  door  of  the 
bedroom  for  the  purpose  of  opening  it.  With  a  swift, 
sudden  defiance  the  elder  woman  barred  her  way. 

"Aline,"  she  said,  "you  must  listen,  please,  to 
what  I  have  to  say.  You  are  not  wholly  a  fool. 
Your  mind  has  been  poisoned.   You  have  been  made 


266  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

the  tool  of  one  who  has  not  scrupled  to  exploit  you 
for  his  own  ignoble  ends. " 

The  deadly  pale  face  of  the  younger  woman 
seemed  suddenly  to  blaze  with  fury.  Not  a  sound 
escaped  her  lips,  yet  she  had  to  bite  them  to  repress 
a  cry  of  rage. 

"I  will  not  allow  you  to  talk  to  me  in  this  way," 
she  said. 

"Aline,"  said  the  older  woman,  "you  of  all  people 
must  be  aware  of  the  state  of  the  country.  One 
man  only  can  save  it,  and  that  man  is  your  husband. 
That  you  must  realize.  And  if  you  are  a  woman 
worthy  of  your  country  it  behooves  you  to  help  him 
and  to  help  it  in  any  way  that  may  be  possible  in 
such  an  hour  as  this." 

Lady  Aline  was  wholly  unmoved  by  the  appeal. 

"I  decline  to  discuss  the  matter,"  she  said.  "And 
I  must  ask  you  to  leave  my  room  immediately." 

Evelyn  Rockingham,  however,  held  her  ground. 

"There  are  certain  things  I  am  going  to  say  to 
you.  Aline,"  she  said,  "and  you  cannot  choose  but 
hear  them.  I  well  know  you  to  be  the  victim  of  an 
insane  jealousy.  Jealousy  of  whom-f*  I  will  tell 
you.  Jealousy  of  myself,  Evelyn  Rockingham. 
No,  leave  the  bell  alone.  I  will  not  allow  you  to 
touch  it."  She  sprang  forward  as  she  spoke  and 
caught  the  slighter,  more  delicate  woman  by  the 
wrists.     "Before  I  leave  this  room,  my  dear  Aline, 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  267 

it  is  my  intention  that  you  shall  realize  the  truth. 
Evelyn  Rockingham  is  not  the  base  intrigante  you 
take  her  to  be.  Your  husband  and  I  have  worked 
side  by  side  in  a  great  national  crisis.  We  are  still 
working  side  by  side  in  the  hope  of  saving  that 
precious  thing  to  which  we  are  devoted.  But  that 
is  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  our  intercourse. 
Your  suspicions  are  entirely  unfounded,  that  I 
swear  before  God." 

The  jealous  wife  was  fully  determined  not  to  listen 
to  the  woman  whom  she  believed  to  have  supplanted 
her  in  her  husband's  affections.  But  her  words  in 
their  burning  intensity  and  her  own  situation, 
moreover  —  held  firmly  as  she  was  by  the  wrists 
with  a  power  that  far  surpassed  her  own  physical 
strength  —  compelled  her  to  do  so.  She  rejected  the 
appeal,  however,  with  a  contempt  that  was  almost 
savage. 

"You  choose  not  to  believe  me,  Aline,"  said 
Evelyn  Rockingham.  "Very  well.  So  much  the 
worse  for  us  all.  Nay,  I  don't  care  in  the  least 
what  you  may  think  of  me"  —  this  in  answer  to  the 
immeasurable  scorn  that  seemed  to  transform  the 
eyes  into  those  of  Medusa.  "You  were  always  an 
inferior  woman.  It  is  the  irony  of  things  that  such 
a  man  as  James  Draper  should  have  made  the  tragic 
mistake  of  marrying  you.  But  I  intend  that  you 
shall   realize  the  truth.     I   am   an   honest  woman. 


268  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

You  have  all  your  husband's  love,  as  much  as  you 
had  it  ever.  You  are  still  his  idol.  He  is  still 
devoted  to  you.  I  only  hope  that  you  can  say  you 
are  an  honest  woman  also. " 

The  furious  pride  of  the  younger  woman  caused 
her  to  become  passive. 

"Let  go  my  hands,  Evelyn,"  she  said  very  quietly. 

"Yes,  when  you  have  accepted  the  truth.  I  have 
come  here  to-night  that  you  should  learn  it.  Your 
husband  comes  down  here  to-morrow.  It  is  of  vital 
importance  that  once  for  all  you  should  put  away 
these  unworthy  suspicions  which  are  ruining  his  life, 
which  are  ruining  your  own,  and,  moreover,  are 
imperilling  the  safety  of  the  country.  Give  me  some 
assurance,  Aline,  that  you  accept  the  statement 
I  have  made. " 

Lady  Aline  maintained  a  stubborn  silence. 

"As  God  is  my  witness,  I  have  spoken  the  truth," 
said  Evelyn  Rockingham.  "I  cannot  say  more. 
If  you  choose  not  to  believe  me  you  will  have  to  pay 
a  heavy  price  for  your  wickedness  and  your  folly. 
Perhaps  we  shall  all  have  to  pay  it  —  England  more 
than  anybody.  But  your  husband  comes  down  here 
to-morrow,  and  I  ask  you  then  to  remember  what 
I  now  swear  before  God. " 

"Leave  my  room,"  said  the  younger  woman. 

"Please  give  me  some  assurance  that  you  accept 
my  statement,  and  that  you  will  act  upon  it. " 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  269 

"The  matter  is  not  one  that  we  can  discuss. " 

"For  heaven's  sake,  don't  treat  the  matter  in  sc 
merely  conventional  spirit.  Surely  we  have  gone 
beyond  that.  There  is  so  much  at  stake.  Aline,, 
on  my  knees  I  implore  you  to  believe  me  and  act  — 
if  it  is  still  possible  for  you  to  act  —  in  accordance 
with  your  knowledge." 

There  was  something  in  the  sudden  humility  of 
the  appeal  that  affected  the  younger  woman.  Only 
a  heart  of  stone  could  have  been  proof  against  it. 
In  spite  of  herself  so  complete  a  self-abasement 
touched  the  heart  of  Aline. 

"Will  you  not  believe  me.?" 

There  was  a  moment  of  silence. 

"  I  implore  you  to  believe  me.  For  your  husband's 
sake  and  for  your  own  and  for  your  country's,  I 
implore  you  to  believe  me. " 

The  younger  woman  was  no  longer  proof  against 
emotion.  She  averted  her  face,  but  already  a  subtle 
change  had  been  wrought  in  it.  Loath  as  she  was  to 
admit  the  truth,  it  was  yet  impossible  to  remain 
impervious  to  such  an  appeal.  She  was  a  woman 
convinced  against  her  will,  but  by  sheer  force  and 
sincerity  Evelyn  Rockingham  seemed  almost  to  have 
conquered. 


VIII 

MR.  DRAPER  and  Mr.  Grundy  were  expected 
to  join  the  Cloudesley  house-party  in  the 
course  of  Sunday  morning.  Speculation  ran  high 
among  the  guests.  All  were  members  of  the  caste 
to  whom  Draper  beyond  all  men  was  intensely 
antipathetic.  The  man's  whole  career  was  an 
affront  to  those  nurtured  in  the  faith  of  laissez  /aire. 

Neither  Harrow  nor  Eton  nor  the  older  universities 
had  touched  this  unpolished  gem  with  their  chasten- 
ing hands.  Nor  had  they  touched  his  fathers  before 
him.  But  in  spite  of  the  severe  handicap  nature 
had  imposed  upon  him  —  or  because  of  it,  said  the 
cynical  —  the  "Haberdasher"  was  proving  himself 
in  the  supreme  hour  to  be  great  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people. 

It  was  idle  for  any  body  of  politicians  to  burke 
the  fact  that  James  Draper  could  not  be  dispensed 
with.  He  had  taken  such  a  hold  upon  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  masses  that  it  now  appeared  that  he  alone 
could  right  the  crazy  ship  of  state.  Beyond  every- 
thing else  this  was  due  to  a  strong  and  inspiring 
personality  which  stood  foursquare  to  the  winds  of 

270 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  271 

party.  But  then  again  the  man's  integrity  had  told 
heavily  upon  those  of  his  countrymen  who  set  a  high 
value  upon  personal  character. 

In  the  beginning  his  wonderful  rise  from  a  small 
tradesman's  counter  in  a  provincial  town  had  been 
due  to  the  fact  that  he  had  had  the  wit  and  also  the 
luck  to  be  the  first  to  bring  home  to  the  masses  that 
somebody  had  not  been  playing  quite  fair  for  several 
hundreds  of  years.  His  famous  —  or  infamous  ?  — 
land  bill  had  been  designed  to  put  the  matter  in  order. 
The  success  of  that  measure  had  imbued  his  early 
followers  with  the  lust  of  triumph;  they  determined 
by  the  advantage  they  had  gained  to  push  up  to 
the  hilt.  The  Conciliation  Bill  had  been  the  out- 
come of  their  valour.  But  then,  to  their  indignant 
surprise,  the  man's  deep-rooted  sense  of  fair  play 
asserted  itself,  and  he  cried,  "Halt,  you  are  going  too 
fast!" 

The  stern  admonition  had  shattered  to  pieces  the 
Coalition  Government  of  which  he  was  a  member. 
His  friends  were  shocked  and  disconcerted;  his 
enemies  shouted  with  glee.  Here  at  last  was  the 
long-looked-for  opportunity  of  those  whom  he  had 
shorn  of  their  ancient  privileges.  He  thinks  he  is 
strong  enough  to  do  without  us  now,  said  his  friends; 
Mr.  Facing-both-ways,  said  his  enemies.  Only  a 
very  small  and  deeply  perceptive  minority  came 
near  to  the  truth. 


272  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

Had  it  been  possible  at  this  point  for  two  such 
deadly  foes  as  the  Right  and  the  Left  to  co-operate 
there  might  have  been  a  speedy  end  of  James  Draper. 
But  it  was  asking  a  little  too  much  of  human  nature, 
and  perhaps  this  he  knew.  He  had  committed  an 
almost  tragic  indiscretion  in  the  matter  of  his 
marriage,  but  even  this  was  not  able  wholly  to  undo 
him.  Nevertheless,  it  had  exposed  him  to  the 
machinations  of  a  powerful  and  unscrupulous  social 
clique  which  grasped  eagerly  at  the  chance  of  bring- 
ing off  a  great  political  coup. 

Among  the  guests  assembled  at  Cloudesley  was 
more  than  one  of  those  who  had  aided  and  abetted 
Rockingham  in  his  well-laid  scheme  to  put  this  dan- 
gerous foe  forever  out  of  public  life.  The  attempt 
was  made  with  a  sure  and  subtle  knowledge  of  the 
Pharisaical  British  nature.  For  nearly  three  weeks 
the  issue  had  hung  in  the  balance,  during  which 
time  the  whole  industrial  life  of  the  country  had 
been  brought  to  the  verge  of  chaos.  A  single  false 
step  on  the  part  of  him  against  whom  the  plot 
was  laid  would  have  been  fatal;  but  the  man's 
remarkable  calibre  had  declared  itself  in  this  crisis. 
It  was  now  felt  even  at  Cloudesley,  the  headquarters 
of  the  conspirators,  that  unless  at  the  eleventh  hour 
the  unforeseen  occurred,  James  Draper  was  bound 
"to  come  out  on  top. " 

Was  it  possible  that  even  now  the  unforeseen  was 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  273 

about  to  happen?  Sinister  rumours  were  rife  from 
an  early  hour  that  Sunday  morning.  It  was  known 
by  then  that  a  further  urgent  and  lengthy  com- 
munication from  the  King  had  been  received  by  the 
master  of  the  house.  The  nature  of  it  had  not  been 
disclosed,  but  soon  after  breakfast  there  was  a  con- 
ference held  in  the  library  between  the  Prime 
Minister-elect,  Evan  Mauleverer,  Loring,  and  Lord 
Peveril. 

During  the  course  of  its  progress  less  august 
persons  gathered  in  little  groups  in  odd  corners  of 
the  house.  A  strange  gravity  seemed  to  envelop  the 
place.  In  the  very  atmosphere  of  the  old  house 
there  was  a  sense  of  something  impending.  Precisely 
what  it  was  none  could  tell.  On  the  face  of  things 
it  would  appear  that  Rockingham  had  been  able  to 
form  a  Government  acceptable  to  King  and  People 
alike.  Its  heterogeneous  elements  had  consented 
apparently  to  work  together  for  the  common  weal, 
in  order  that  the  country  might  not  bleed  to  death, 
yet  always  providing  that  the  unforeseen  did  not 
occur  at  the  eleventh  hour. 

Had  the  negotiations  broken  down.f*  Anxious 
politicians,  unable  to  possess  their  souls  in  patience 
for  a  little  while  longer,  eagerly  canvassed  the 
question  with  one  who  was  likely  to  have  the  very 
latest  information. 

Mr.  Ansell  in  particular  was  importunate. 


274  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"You  must  tell  me,  Duchess,"  he  said,  "just 
what  you  think.  Are  we  to  have  the  honour  of 
lunching  with  the  'Haberdasher,'  or  are  we  not?" 

"I  can  only  counsel  you,  Mr.  Ansell,"  said 
Evelyn  Rockingham  with  a  rather  elaborate  air, 
"in  the  phrase  of  a  great  statesman  of  the  past:  you 
must  *wait  and  see.'" 

"Well,  I'm  sure  you  would  know,  if  anybody  does," 
said  the  member  for  South  East  Leeds,  not  very 
tactfully. 

"Nobody  does  know,  except  Mr.  Draper  himself. 
Personally,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  we  are  to  have 
the  honour  of  lunching  with  him.  Last  evening  it 
was  undoubtedly  his  intention  to  come  down  here 
in  the  course  of  to-day." 

"Plenty  of  time  to  change  his  mind  since  then, 
though." 

"Yes,  but  why  should  he?  He  is  not  a  man  much 
given  to  changing  his  mind." 

"I  don't  mean  without  adequate  reason,  of  course. 
But  somehow  one  feels  that  something  may  have 
suddenly  gone  wrong." 

"In  the  country,  do  you  mean?" 

"No,  I  don't  mean  in  the  country.  Things  can't 
go  much  more  crooked  there,  unless  London  is 
already  sacked  and  burned,  and  that  would  surprise 
nobody.  But  somehow  I've  taken  the  notion  that 
Mr.  D.  may  not  be  quite  playing  the  game. " 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  275 

"  I  am  afraid  I  don't  understand  you,  Mr.  Ansell." 

"Well,  he  may,  don't  you  know,  have  found  it 
impossible  to  play  straight,  as  a  man  of  his  class 
generally  does  when  he's  really  put  to  it. " 

"In  what  way  is  it  open  to  him  not  to  play 
straight.?" 

"Well,  he  may  have  tried,  don't  you  know,  in 
a  manner  of  speaking,  to  overreach  the  King.  Any- 
how, that's  Loring's  opinion,  and  he  was  in  London 
up  till  five  o'clock  last  evening." 

"In  what  way,  Mr.  Ansell,  would  it  be  possible 
for  Mr.  Draper  to  overreach  the  King?"  There  was 
a  rather  amused  ring  in  the  voice  of  the  questioner, 
which  was  wholly  lost  upon  the  earnest  patriot, 
whose  thoughts  were  centred  solely  upon  the  welfare 
of  his  country. 

"Well,  you  know,"  said  the  Yorkshireman, 
laying  a  mystical  finger  on  the  centre  of  his  forehead, 
"he  suffers  from  that." 

"That.f"'  queried  Evelyn. 

"Megalomania.  He  imagines  he's  a  Cromwell. 
And  if  a  man  imagines  he's  a  Cromwell  he  is  capable 
de  tout. " 

"In  other  words,  Mr.  Ansell,"  said  Evelyn 
Rockingham  blandly,  "you  are  prepared  to  impeach 
his  loyalty  to  the  Throne?" 

"Yes,  by  jove!  If  that  man  sees  his  chance  he'll 
stick  at  nothing.     Everything  is  at  sixes  and  sevens : 


276  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

Evan  says  Navy  and  Army  and  Police  are  out  for 
higher  pay,  like  the  rest  of  'em;  a  certain  person  — 
this  is  strictly  between  ourselves,  mind!  —  is  as  weak 
as  water  in  a  crisis;  this  fellow  has  got  the  ear  of 
the  masses  as  no  man  has  ever  had  it  before  in  this 
country;  and  if  he's  the  man  we  all  take  him  to  be  he 
is  not  going  to  hold  the  candle  to  Rockingham,  whom 
he  hates  like  poison. " 

In  spite  of  her  amused  air,  the  wife  of  Rockingham 
looked  rather  unhappy.  The  man  who  spoke  so 
naively  was  himself  a  power  in  the  land.  Extremely 
rich,  and  a  large  employer  of  labour,  he  was  endowed 
with  the  North  countryman's  power  of  seeing  the 
thing  immediately  in  front  of  his  nose  without 
being  embarrassed  by  any  particular  mental  sub- 
tlety. It  was  certain  that  when  he  expressed  such 
a  frank  opinion  it  was  one  that  was  very  widely 
held. 

"I  can  only  say,  Mr.  Ansell,"  said  Evelyn  at  last, 
"that  I  don't  agree  with  you  in  the  least.  There 
can  be  no  question  that  Mr.  Draper  is  a  single- 
hearted  man,  and  a  pure-minded  politician.  He  is 
much  too  highly  developed  to  seek  personal  advance- 
ment at  the  expense  of  anybody  —  particularly  at 
the  expense  of  his  country." 

Mr.  Ansell  shook  his  head.  There  was  the  smile 
of  the  sceptic  upon  his  not  specially  prepossessing 
features. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  277 

"Ha,  you  idealists!"  he  said.  "You  are  one  of 
the  greatest  dangers  this  old  world  has  to  face. " 

"Yes,  I  know. "  Her  immense  power  of  sympathy 
enabled  her  to  put  herself  in  the  place  of  a  man 
from  whom  she  differed  fundamentally,  and  to 
appraise  his  merits  without  despising  him  too  much. 
"Yes,  I  quite  see  that.  And  he's  an  idealist,  too, 
and  that  is  why  you  are  all  so  shamefully  afraid 
of  him." 

"We  are  only  afraid  of  him  because  he  makes 
us  all  so  damned  uncomfortable,"  said  Mr.  Ansell, 
with  an  accession  of  luminous  candour. 

"As  all  idealists  do,  I  suppose?" 

"Yes,  you  are  quite  right  there.  That's  a  power 
you  all  have  in  common.  And  what,  pray,  have 
you  done  with  your  idealism.''  Raised  up  the 
Under-dog.  Got  him  to  take  a  pride  in  himself. 
Got  him  to  wear  a  collar,  and  to  brush  his  hair. 
Widened  his  horizon.  Taught  him  how  to  read 
newspapers,  and  how  to  write  'em.  Increased  his 
scale  of  living.  Made  him  very  acute  in  minding 
other  people's  business.  And  what's  the  result  of 
it  all.'*  Instead  of  an  unwashed,  under-paid,  under- 
fed, but  moderately  contented  cur,  you  get  a  sleek, 
well-fed,  thoroughly  discontented  mongrel,  who  is 
determined  at  all  hazards  to  get  on  top.  Idealists 
like  Draper  have  not  made  the  world  a  whit  better 
for  anybody,  and  they've  made  it  a  much  worse  place 


278  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

for  everybody  to  live  in.  I  may  go  so  far  as  to  admit 
that  the  man  is  sincere,  according  to  his  lights,  but  it 
would  have  been  far  better  for  his  country  had  he 
never  been  born.  Let  well  alone  was  my  father's 
motto,  and  the  more  I  see  of  things  the  more  I'm 
convinced  it  takes  a  great  deal  of  beating.  That's  my 
opinion,  Duchess,  and  I  make  so  bold  as  to  present 
you  with  it,  free,  gratis,  and  for  nothing." 

The  outspoken  Yorkshireman  turned  away  with 
a  satisfied  laugh.  He  was  conscious  that  his  indict- 
ment of  a  dangerous  heresy  admitted  of  no  defence 
worthy  of  a  moment's  consideration  from  a  judicial 
mind. 


IX 

A  LITTLE  after  midday  the  conference  in  the 
library  came  to  an  end.  Four  grave  and 
reverend  councillors  emerged  from  their  seclusion 
with  an  air  sufficiently  portentous  to  increase  the 
curiosity  of  those  who  were  burning  to  know  the 
latest  turn  in  the  game.  Were  the  negotiations  on 
the  point  of  collapse,  even  now  that  Rockingham  had 
formed  his  Government?  Could  it  be  that,  after  all, 
Draper  had  declined  to  come  in  ? 

About  a  quarter  to  one  o'clock  these  doubts 
received  a  rather  startling  confirmation.  Then  it 
was  that  Mr.  Grundy  arrived  alone.  His  colleague, 
it  appeared,  had  come  down  too,  but  he  chose  to 
remain  at  the  inn  in  the  village  rather  than  invade 
the  precincts  of  Cloudesley.  And  to  the  surprise 
of  all,  he  had  sent  a  formal  request  that  Rockingham, 
Evan  Mauleverer,  and  Loring  should  attend  him 
at  the  Coach  and  Horses  any  time  during  the  after- 
noon that  might  be  convenient  to  them. 

It  was  hard  to  understand  such  a  line  of  conduct. 
Why  take  the  trouble  to  come  down  at  all  if  one  was 
not  going  to  have  the  grace  to  enter  the  house  of  the 

279 


28o  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

enemy?  Certainly  such  a  scruple  augured  ill  for  the 
success  of  a  Rockingham  ministry.  If  the  most 
important  figure  in  it  was  able  to  display  such  dis- 
courtesy —  the  least  censorious  of  his  critics  felt  it 
amounted  to  that  —  toward  the  accredited  leader 
and  his  friends,  the  entire  scheme  was  doomed  to 
collapse. 

Luncheon  was  not  altogether  a  comfortable  meal. 
But  it  passed  more  agreeably  than  might  have  been 
the  case  had  Mr.  Grundy  been  less  adroit.  His 
personal  popularity  was  not  confined  to  his  own 
political  followers.  His  moderate  and  rather  cau- 
tious views,  tempered  by  the  patience  and  sagacity 
of  a  true  statesman,  commended  themselves  equally 
to  the  members  of  the  three  parties. 

The  perfect  plainness  of  speech  and  manner,  the 
directness,  the  complete  absence  of  "pose,"  and 
above  all  the  genuine  kindliness  of  the  fallen  leader 
of  the  Coalition  had  never  stood  him  or  his  cause 
in  better  stead  than  at  this  moment.  He  was  too 
shrewd  not  to  realize  that  he  was  in  a  dangerously 
heated  atmosphere.  None  saw  more  clearly  than 
he  that  the 'rather  impolite  reluctance  of  Draper  to 
enter  that  house  and  to  sit  at  that  board  had  strained 
these  all-too-recent  negotiations  to  the  breaking- 
point. 

Those  among  whom  Mr.  Grundy  sat  were  beyond 
all  things  men  of  the  world,  but  they  found  it  almost 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  281 

impossible  to  conceal  their  chagrin.  Loring  himself, 
the  squire  and  sportsman,  trying  his  level  best  to 
fulfil  a  role  for  which  nature  had  never  designed  him, 
was  obviously  piqued.  He  found  it  as  much  as  he 
could  do  to  be  civil  to  the  leader  of  the  Centre.  Such 
an  attitude  was  of  course  unworthy  of  a  man  like 
Loring,  but  he  seemed  to  feel  the  affront  that  was 
offered  as  a  personal  thing.  Evan  Mauleverer  took 
it  with  far  more  philosophy.  His  mind  was  deeper, 
his  self-command,  his  acquaintance  with  affairs 
much  greater.  He  sat  opposite  Grundy,  and  while 
he  said  very  little,  his  slow,  formidable,  cynical  smile 
was  trained  full  upon  him. 

Rockingham,  on  the  other  hand,  seemed  quite 
unaffected  by  the  absence  of  Draper.  He  was  much 
too  grand  seigneur  to  wear  his  heart  upon  his  sleeve. 
Rockingham  House  might  be  burning,  together  with 
the  rest  of  the  metropolis,  but  the  ground  landlord 
of  one  fifth  of  Mayfair  chatted  equably  throughout 
the  meal  to  his  feminine  neighbours,  one  of  whom 
was  Lady  Aline  and  the  other  his  hostess,  with  a 
detachment  of  mind  that  was  a  little  enigmatical  as 
well  as  a  little  tragic. 

As  soon  as  the  women  had  risen  from  the  table 
Loring  ordered  his  butler  to  send  coffee  and  cigars 
to  the  library,  and  he  invited  Rockingham,  Maul- 
everer, and  Grundy  to  retire  to  that  seclusion  in 
order  "that  they  might  have  a  little  talk."     To 


282  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

this  suggestion  they  assented  readily,  and  in  the 
course  of  half  an  hour  or  so  Evan  Mauleverer 
returned  in  search  of  the  host,  whom  he  found  in  the 
depths  of  a  cosy  armchair  in  the  hall. 

"We  want  your  help,  my  dear  fellow,"  said  the 
leader  of  the  Right,  with  his  slow  and  formidable 
smile.     "Come  and  help  us." 

"To  do  what.f""  growled  Loring. 

"To  make  up  our  minds.  If  Mahomet  won't 
come  to  the  Mountain,  is  it  meet  for  the  Mountain 
to  go  to  Mahomet.?" 

"I'd  see  him  damned  first,"  said  Loring,  in 
characteristic  phrase. 

"Exactly  my  opinion."  The  formidable  smile 
of  the  famous  reactionary  seemed  to  grow  more 
dangerous.  "  But  for  some  occult  reason  that  doesn't 
seem  altogether  to  meet  the  views  of  Robert." 

"Why  not.?"  said  the  host.  "We've  had  more 
than  enough  of  Draper's  nonsense  as  it  is.  And 
to  my  mind  this  about  puts  the  cap  on. " 

"Exactly  my  view.  But  Robert  doesn't  quite 
see  the  thing  like  that.  What  is  in  his  mind  I  can't 
fathom.  For  some  inexplicable  reason  he  seems 
to  lean  to  the  side  of  Grundy,  and  Grundy,  of  course, 
is  all  in  favour  of  paying  a  visit  to  the  Coach  and 
Horses  at  four  o'clock." 

The  host  rose  stubbornly  and  rather  rheumatically 
from  the  depths  of  his  armchair. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  283 

"I  am  bound  to  say,"  he  said,  "that  Robert 
defeats  me.  If  he's  a  wise  man  he'll  keep  clear. 
Why  should  he,  of  all  people,  want  to  go  near  the 
dirty  dog.  Mark  my  words,  Evan,  that  swine  has 
come  down  here  for  no  good  purpose.  He  is  out 
for  mischief." 

Mr.  Evan  Mauleverer  offered  no  comment. 
But  expressions  so  unparliamentary  seemed  in 
nowise  to  offend  his  fastidious  soul.  My  lord  was 
accustomed  to  call  a  spade  a  spade;  moreover,  he 
seemed  to  have  touched  a  responsive  chord  in  the 
bosom  of  the  leader  of  the  Right. 

"You  are  just  the  man  to  talk  to  Robert,"  he  said, 
linking  a  fraternal  arm  through  that  of  his  host. 


X 

ARM  in  arm  they  entered  the  library.  They 
found  Rockingham  and  Grundy  smoking 
their  cigars  in  a  silence  that  was  a  little  tense. 

Evan  Mauleverer  closed  the  door  softly. 

"Loring  thinks  exactly  as  I  do,"  he  said. 

"Of  course  he  does,"  said  Rockingham,  drawing 
imperturbably  at  his  cigar.  "And  you  are  both 
absolutely  right  —  absolutely  right. "  The  Prime 
Minister-elect  repeated  the  phrase  almost  as  if  he 
was  in  the  process  of  weighing  it  carefully  —  "as 
far  as  you  go  —  both  absolutely  right  as  far  as  you 

go-" 

"You  think  we  don't  go  far  enough.?"  said  Loring, 
rather  sharply. 

"Perhaps  —  perhaps,"  mused  the  Prime  Minister- 
elect. 

"You've  all  gone  a  great  deal  too  far  already, 
that's  my  opinion,"  was  Loring's  rejoinder.  "And 
I  refer  to  you,  Mr.  Grundy,  as  much  as  anybody. 
It's  only  my  opinion,  mind,  but  there  it  is  if  you 
want  it." 

Mr.  Grundy's  face  was  tinged  with  sly  amusement. 

284 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  285 

None  understood  better  than  he  the  man  with  whom 
he  had  to  deal. 

"Lord  Loring,"  he  said  in  his  suave,  almost 
paternal  manner,  "I  know  you  well  enough  to  be 
aware  that  no  man  is  more  deeply  attached  to  the 
country." 

"I  take  no  credit  for  that,"  said  the  forthright 
Briton. 

"Quite  so.  But  what  I  would  venture  to  point 
out  to  you  is  that  all  four  of  us  are  passionately 
attached  to  the  country.  We  may  be  at  variance 
as  to  what  is  the  immediate  course  to  pursue,  but 
the  fact  that  we  are  at  one  on  the  main  issue  ought, 
I  think,  to  guide  us  in  this  minor  matter.  Now, 
the  point  is  this :  The  Duke  and  I  are  agreed  that  it 
is  expedient  to  accede  to  Mr.  Draper's  request  — 
his  polite  request  —  that  we  should  pay  him  a  visit 
at  the  inn  in  the  village  some  time  this  afternoon. 
You  and  Mauleverer,  I  gather,  are  opposed  to  that 
course." 

"That  is  so, "  said  the  leader  of  the  Right.  "  In  my 
view  it  is  a  request  he  is  not  in  a  position  to  prefer. " 

"I  am  afraid,  my  dear  Mauleverer,  I  cannot 
agree  with  you,"  said  the  leader  of  the  Centre, 
with  all  the  urbanity  of  which  he  was  capable. 
"You  must  be  aware  that  an  immense  quantity 
of  water  has  flowed  under  London  Bridge  during 
the  past  forty-eight  hours." 


286  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"So  I  am  informed,"  said  the  leader  of  the  Right 
in  his  dryest  manner. 

"You  mean,"  Loring  interposed  hotly,  "that 
the  King  has  allowed  this  traitor  to  overreach 
him." 

"Well,  no,  not  that  exactly,"  said  the  leader  of 
the  Centre,  in  the  soothing  accents  he  might  have 
used  to  a  child.  "And  with  all  respect,  my  dear 
Lord  Loring,  that  statement  does  not  envisage 
the  true  facts  of  the  situation  —  that  is  to  say,  as 
the  facts  of  the  situation  present  themselves  to  the 
Duke  and  myself. " 

The  almost  caressing  note  of  urbanity  was  lost 
upon  all  save  Rockingham,  who  smiled  slightly. 

"I'm  a  plain  man,"  growled  Loring,  "and  that's 
how  it  strikes  me,  anyhow,  and  that's  what  I  told 
the  King." 

"I  am  aware  you  did,"  said  the  leader  of  the 
Centre.  "But  I  am  not  aware  that  the  King  shares 
your  opinion." 

"You  don't  expect  a  man  to  admit  he's  been  done 
in  the  eye,  do  you.'*"  snapped  my  lord. 

"And  I  think  I  am  entitled  to  say,"  quietly 
countered  the  leader  of  the  Centre,  "that  the  Duke 
here  doesn't  altogether  share  that  opinion  either." 

Loring  turned  to  face  Rockingham  with  explosive 
eyes. 

"  I  can't  understand  what  you  do  think,  Robert, " 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  287 

he  said  petulantly;  "upon  my  word,  I  can't.  I  tell 
you  plainly  this  man  is  a  traitor. " 

"One  is  not  yet  convinced  that  he  is,"  said 
Rockingham,  whose  rather  fatigued  air  seemed  in 
the  circumstances  deliciously  casual.  "I  think 
that  is  what  we  have  to  find  out. " 

"And  you  think,  my  dear  fellow,"  said  Evan 
Mauleverer,  "that  if  we  respond  to  his  kind  invita- 
tion to  take  tea  with  him  at  the  Coach  and  Horses 
this  afternoon  at  four  o'clock,  we  may  be  able  to  set 
at  rest  our  doubts  upon  the  subject." 

"I  confess  it  may  not  be  unlikely." 

"  I  am  sorry  to  be  unable  to  follow  your  reasoning," 
said  the  leader  of  the  Right.  "  It  seems  uncommonly 
like  responding  to  a  direct  invitation  to  walk  into 
the  spider's  parlour." 

"Assuming  that  it  is,  what  harm  can  the  spider 
do  us?" 

"He  might  swallow  us  piecemeal." 

"I  don't  quite  understand." 

"Well,  I  will  not  be  more  explicit  at  the  moment," 
said  the  leader  of  the  Right,  "but  my  view  is  that  it 
will  be  the  height  of  impolicy.  There  is  no  adequate 
reason  why  he  should  not  come  here  to  discuss  the 
situation.  And  if  there  is  an  adequate  reason  the 
situation  no  longer  admits  of  discussion. " 

The  Duke  and  Mr.  Grundy  nodded  an  affirmative. 

"Yes,   that  is  the  crux  of  the  whole  matter," 


288  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

said  the  latter,  after  waiting  courteously  but  in  vain 
for  Rockingham  himself  to  frame  an  answer.  "The 
question  now  to  be  decided  is,  has  or  has  not  the 
matter  passed  beyond  the  phase  of  discussion?" 

"Exactly,"  said  Loring. 

"Well,"  said  the  leader  of  the  Centre,  "I  can 
only  have  recourse  to  the  King's  explicit  request, 
made  this  morning  at  ten  o'clock,  that  Draper 
should  confer  with  us  four  at  the  earliest  moment, 
and  to  acquaint  him  with  the  result  of  our  delibera- 
tions not  later  than  to-morrow  at  noon. " 

"Was  this  request  made  personally  to  Draper?" 
inquired  the  leader  of  the  Right  with  a  light  of 
menace  in  his  eyes. 

"Undoubtedly." 

"And  what  was  Draper's  reply?" 

"He  promised  to  do  so  on  one  condition." 

"Condition!  Aha!  makes  conditions,  does  he?" 
The  light  in  the  eye  of  Mauleverer  seemed  to  grow 
more  sinister.     "What,  pray,  was  the  condition?" 

"That  he  —  the  King  —  would  give  his  personal 
assurance  that  martial  law  should  in  no  circum- 
stances be  proclaimed  in  London  before  Monday 
midnight." 

"My  God!"  groaned  Loring,  "was  he  insane 
enough  to  give  it?" 

"Yes,"  said  the  leader  of  the  Centre  in  a  voice  so 
passive  that  nothing  could  have  been  deduced  from  it. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  289 

"Just  what  we  might  have  expected,"  gasped 
Lorlng.     "Upon  my  soul,  I  believe  he's  undone  us. " 

"It  may  be  so,  Lord  Loring,"  said  the  leader  of 
the  Centre;  "on  the  other  hand,  it  may  not  be  so. 
I,  at  least,  am  not  prepared  to  prophesy.  But  that 
was  the  condition  laid  down,  and  upon  due  reflection 
the  King  saw  his  way  to  accept  it." 

"Was  there  no  other  condition?"  asked  the 
leader  of  the  Right." 

"None." 

"Absolutely  none.?" 

"No  other  condition  was  imposed." 

"Then  it  appears  to  amount  to  this,"  said  the 
leader  of  the  Right.  "Draper  is  pledged  to  confer 
with  us,  and  it  is  entirely  a  question  of  his  personal 
convenience  whether  the  meeting  takes  place  in 
this  house  or  at  the  inn  in  the  village." 

"Quite  so,"  said  the  leader  of  the  Centre  im- 
passively. 

"You  mean  to  say,"  said  Loring,  "that  the  man 
has  the  impertinence  to  impose  the  place  of  meeting 
upon  us  when  he  has  really  no  choice  in  the  matter.''" 

"That  would  appear  to  be  a  not  inaccurate  state- 
ment of  the  facts,"  said  the  leader  of  the  Centre 
dryly. 

"But  he's  in  a  cleft  stick,"  said  Loring.  "He's 
bound  to  come  here  whether  he  wants  to  come 
here  or  not." 


290  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"I  agree,"  said  the  leader  of  the  Centre.  "But 
then  the  question  of  expediency  arises.  It  cannot 
hurt  us  to  accede  to  his  request,  but  conceivably 
it  might  hurt  him  to  accede  to  ours." 

"I  don't  understand,"  said  Loring  bluntly. 
"Why  shouldn't  the  man  be  made  to  come  to  this 
house?" 

"Do  you  press  for  the  reason,  Lord  Loring.?" 

"Certainly." 

"His  wife  is  a  guest  in  this  house,  and  I  think  I  be- 
tray no  secret  if  I  say  they  are  no  longer  on  terms. " 

"A  totally  inadequate  reason.  Why  can't  he 
behave  like  a  man  of  the  world  f " 

"I  presume  to  offer  no  opinion  upon  that,"  said 
the  leader  of  the  Centre  with  an  air  of  grave  courtli- 
ness. "But  I  do  feel  very  strongly  that  we  should 
keep  ever  before  us  that  we  have  to  deal  with  a 
rather  abnormal  personality. " 

"Swollen  head,  eh?  All  the  more  reason  we 
should  not  give  in  to  it.  But  one  would  have 
thought  he  knew  enough  of  things  by  this  time  to 
behave  like  a  man  of  the  world. " 

"Your  world  or  his,  Lord  Loring?"  inquired  the 
leader  of  the  Centre  in  debonair  accents. 

"There  is  only  one  world,"  said  Loring. 

The  leader  of  the  Centre  deferred  in  silence  to 
this  dictum,  but  once  again  there  was  a  stealthy 
light  in  the  sagacious  eyes. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  291 

"Loring  means  there  is  only  one  world  inhabited 
by  educated  people,"  said  the  leader  of  the  Right 
with  his  rather  fatigued  drawl. 

"Thank  you,  my  dear  Mauleverer,"  said  the 
leader  of  the  Centre.  "I  think  we  all  strive  to 
appreciate  that. " 

Rockingham,  who  in  all  circumstances  was  prone 
to  indulge  the  comic  sense,  turned  aside  to  smile. 

"Well,  I  see  no  reason  at  all  why  we  should  yield 
to  him,"  said  Loring,  summoning  a  superb  air  of 
finality.  "I  don't  think  we  need  care  particularly 
for  his  fine  feelings.  He  has  never  cared  for  ours. 
We  are  here  if  he  wants  us,  and  are  ready  to  receive 
him.  It  is  really  a  matter  of  indifference  to  us 
whether  we  meet  him  or  not. " 

"But  it  is  not  a  matter  of  indifference  to  the 
country, "  said  the  leader  of  the  Centre. 

There  was  a  pause.    It  was  broken  by  Rockingham. 

"Do  we  want  him  here  particularly.''"  he  said  in 
his  casual  voice. 

"You  mean,  can  he  be  trusted  to  behave  himself 
if  he  comes.?"  said  Loring.  "Personally,  I  take 
leave  to  doubt  it." 

"  I  too, "  said  the  Prime  Minister-elect. 

"I  too,"  said  the  leader  of  the  Right. 

"One  is  inclined  to  think, "  said  the  Prime  Minister- 
elect,  "that  he  has  shown  a  certain  self-knowledge 
in  not  trusting  himself  within  these  precincts." 


292  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Would  you  say  that  was  his  reason?"  Loring 
inquired. 

"It  is  not  improbable,  I  think.  He  is  bound  to 
meet  us  in  any  case,  but  he  may  feel  he  has  not  got 
himself  sufficiently  in  hand  to  meet  us  here.  What 
is  your  view,  Mr.  Grundy?" 

The  Prime  Minister-elect  turned  to  the  leader  of 
the  Centre  with  a  rather  elaborate  if  slightly  ironical 
gesture,  as  of  one  seeking  the  light. 

The  leader  of  the  Centre  was  not  unequal  to 
the  occasion. 

"I  have  no  claim  to  be  considered  a  psychological 
expert,"  he  said  in  his  dryest  voice,  "but  if  you  press 
the  point  I  am  constrained  to  admit  that  the  hy- 
pothesis may  not  be  inconceivable. " 

"At  all  events,"  said  the  Prime  Minister-elect, 
"I  am  convinced  that  nothing  will  be  lost  if  our 
conference  takes  place  at  the  village  inn." 

Like  many  men  of  limited  mentality,  Loring  was 
extremely  tenacious.  But  Rockingham's  opinion 
carried  weight.  And,  after  all,  it  was  to  Rocking- 
ham that  the  affair  mattered  most.  If  he  felt  that 
the  concession  of  this  rather  immaterial  point  did  not 
in  any  way  jeopardize  his  own  strategical  position 
there  was  no  particular  reason  for  his  friends  to  be 
unduly  sensitive. 

"Well,  Robert,  you  are  going  to  be  Prime  Min- 
ister," said  Loring  with  the  best  grace  he  could 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  293 

muster,  "and  I  suppose  it  is  right  for  your  opinion 
to  be  paramount." 

"Yes,  I  think  it  is,"  said  Rockingham,  with 
characteristic  coolness. 

"Well,  I  place  myself  in  your  hands,"  said  Loring, 
who,  like  most  of  his  kind,  knew  how  and  when  to 
defer  to  authority. 

"Thank  you,  Loring,"  said  the  Prime  Minister- 
elect.  "I  am  sure  you  will  not  regret  your  action. 
And,  after  all,  the  point  is  quite  immaterial." 

Evan  Mauleverer  found  himself  to  be  the  sole 
representative  of  the  minority.  Therefore  he  ex- 
pressed the  stoicism  upon  which  he  was  wont  to 
pride  himself  by  acquiescing  gracefully  in  a  course  of 
action  of  which  he  strongly  disapproved. 


XI 

As  THE  afternoon  was  fine,  and  the  Coach  and 
Horses  was  within  sight  of  the  lodge  gates  of 
Cloudesley,  Rockingham,  Grundy,  Mauleverer,  and 
Loring  set  out  on  foot  from  the  house  a  few  minutes 
before  four  o'clock.  There  was  still  a  fair  amount 
of  light,  and  Rockingham,  his  arm  entwined  con- 
fidentially within  that  of  the  leader  of  the  Centre,  led 
the  way  along  the  famous  beech  avenue  to  the  park 
gates.  At  an  interval  of  some  fifty  yards,  Loring  and 
Mauleverer  followed  not  over-graciously  in  their  wake. 
Both  the  leader  of  the  Right  and  his  host  were 
puzzled  not  a  little  by  the  demeanour  of  Rocking- 
ham. Always  an  enigma,  even  to  his  most  intimate 
friends,  trusted  the  least  by  those  who  knew  him  the 
best,  his  newly  displayed  respect  for  the  opinion  and 
personality  of  Grundy  nonplussed  them  completely. 
An  aristocrat  of  aristocrats,  if  such  a  phrase  has  a 
meaning,  a  man  fastidious  in  all  things,  except  in  the 
matter  of  the  Seventh  Commandment,  that  such  a 
man  should  be  ready  to  dance  to  the  piping  of 
Solomon  Grundy,  was  one  of  those  contradictions 
for  which  they  were  at  a  loss  to  account. 

294 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  295 

"Robert  is  getting  an  enormous  patriot  these 
days, "  said  Evan  Mauleverer  with  one  of  his  cynical 
chuckles.  "Or  is  he  meditating  another  of  his  little 
coups,  I  wonder?" 

"I  hope  he  won't  let  Draper  get  on  top,  that's 
all,"  said  Loring  sourly. 

"Somehow  I  don't  think  he  will  do  that.  No 
man  yet  has  ever  plumbed  the  depths  of  Robert's 
resources.  But  I  must  say  this  thing  has  an  ugly 
look.  It  has  been  played  up  far  too  high.  Some- 
thing may  very  easily  snap.  Let  us  hope  it  won't 
be  Robert  Rockingham." 

"Pooh!"  said  Loring.  "If  it  comes  to  that,  he 
is  quite  able  to  take  care  of  himself. " 

"I  will  tell  you  better  in  an  hour's  time,  my  dear 
fellow,"  said  Mr.  Evan  Mauleverer. 

By  now  the  party  had  arrived  at  the  Coach  and 
Horses.  Evidently  they  were  expected.  An  over- 
whelmingly obsequious  innkeeper  received  them  at 
his  threshold  and  ushered  them  up  a  flight  of  very 
dark,  very  narrow,  and  decidedly  unwholesome- 
smelling  stairs. 

They  were  shown  into  a  private  sitting-room  on  the 
first  floor.  Although  there  was  still  a  certain  amount 
of  daylight  the  lamp  was  already  lit,  and  the  curtains 
drawn  across  the  window.  A  cheerful  fire  was  burn- 
ing, and  the  room,  though  antiquated  and  meanly 
furnished,  was  not  without  an  aspect  of  comfort. 


296  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

In  a  rather  dilapidated  chair  next  the  fireplace 
reclined  a  very  pale,  sombre,  gaunt-looking  man. 
Spectacles  on  nose,  he  was  making  a  show  of  reading 
the  Planet  newspaper. 

Almost  before  his  visitors  had  entered  he  had 
risen  to  receive  them. 

"I  am  so  much  obliged  to  you  all  for  the  honour 
you  are  doing  me,"  he  said. 

"Not  at  all,"  said  Rockingham,  rather  grimly. 

He  had  been  the  first  to  enter  the  room.  With 
a  nonchalant  air  that  was  yet  not  ungenial  he 
offered  his  hand. 

"Please  take  a  chair,"  said  Draper. 

He  ignored  the  hand  that  was  offered,  yet  with  a 
tact  that  made  the  omission  appear  unintentional. 

"I  am  afraid  none  of  these  chairs  are  very  com- 
fortable," said  Draper.  "How  do  you  do,  Maul- 
everer?"  He  bowed  perhaps  a  shade  elaborately 
to  the  leader  of  the  Right.  "How  do  you  do, 
Lord  Loring.'*"  The  bow  was  repeated.  "I  am 
immensely  obliged  to  you  for  coming  here. " 

"Not  at  all,"  said  both  of  these  in  their  deep 
voices. 

"These  chairs  are  the  best  I  can  do  for  you,  so  you 
must  please  make  the  best  of  them.  May  I  offer 
you  some  little  refreshment  after  your  walk?  A  cup 
of  tea,  Duke?     A  whisky  and  soda?" 

They  were  none  of  them  in  need  of  refreshment. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  297 

It  was  some  little  time  before  they  could  accom- 
modate themselves  with  chairs.  But  at  last  they 
were  able  to  do  so. 

"At  the  outset,"  said  Draper,  "may  I  be  allowed 
to  ask  if  the  situation  is  quite  clear  to  you  ?  I  should 
like  your  formal  assurance  that  such  is  the  case." 

The  tone  was  even,  friendly,  and  almost  careless. 

"The  situation  is  reasonably  clear,  I  think,"  said 
Rockingham  lightly. 

"Still,  perhaps  you  will  forgive  me  if  I  rehearse  it 
a  little  before  I  say  what  I  have  to  say?" 

"Pray  do  so  by  all  means,"  said  Rockingham 
with  his  courtier's  air. 

"This  is  the  situation  as  it  presents  itself  to  me. 
It  may  not  be  the  situation  as  you  yourselves 
envisage  it,  but  I  can  only  accept  responsibility  for 
the  workings  of  my  own  mind:  The  country  has 
been  without  a  Government  for  seventeen  days. 
Some  form  of  constitutional  Government  is  abso- 
lutely indispensable  to  it.  The  King  has  invited 
the  Duke  of  Rockingham  to  form  a  Government, 
but  he  has  thought  well  to  impose  one  vital  condition. 
That  condition  is  that  I,  myself,  should  hold  Cabinet 
rank  in  any  Government  the  Duke  of  Rockingham 
may  form.  May  I  ask,  is  that  an  accurate  state- 
ment of  the  facts  of  the  case?" 

"A  perfectly  accurate  statement  of  the  facts  of  the 
case,  Mr.  Draper,"  said  Rockingham  very  quietly. 


298  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"At  the  risk,"  said  Draper,  "of  going  over  ground 
that  may  already  be  familiar  to  you,  I  may  say  I  am 
here  at  the  King's  request.  I  have  been  asked  to 
confer  with  the  Duke  of  Rockingham  and  with 
certain  of  his  friends  and  colleagues.  I  have  been 
asked  to  afford  any  assistance  that  may  lie  within 
my  power  in  order  to  arrive  at  the  decision,  which 
I  understand  Is  to  be  promulgated  to-morrow  at 
noon,  as  to  whether  it  will  be  competent  for  the 
Duke  of  Rockingham  to  take  office  in  compliance 
with  the  premises  laid  down  by  the  King. " 

Rockingham  acknowledged  this  resume  by  a 
courteous  inclination  of  the  head. 

"I  have  to  thank  you  very  much,  Mr.  Draper," 
he  said,  "for  stating  the  case  so  clearly  and  succinctly. 
And  let  me  say  at  once  that  your  presence  here  and 
any  assistance,  any  advice  you  may  feel  competent 
to  give,  cannot  fail  to  be  of  the  greatest  advantage 
to  myself,  to  my  colleagues,  and  to  the  country." 

Mr.  Draper  bowed  in  his  turn. 

"Duke  of  Rockingham,"  he  said,  "I  thank  you 
for  speaking  in  such  flattering  terms  of  any  services 
it  may  be  within  my  power  to  render.  But  before 
proceeding  one  step  further  I  deem  it  only  right  to 
inform  you  and  your  friends  that  for  my  own  part 
I  find  it  to  be  wholly  impossible  to  accept  office  in 
any  administration  of  which  you  yourself  are  the 
head  or  of  any  cabinet  of  which  you  a  member. " 


XII 


A  PIN  might  have  been  heard  to  fall  in  the 
room.  There  was  a  look  of  blank  consterna- 
tion in  the  faces  of  three  of  the  emissaries.  Diffi- 
culties had  been  foreseen.  But  none  had  expected 
a  complete  refusal  in  such  bald  and  uncompromising 
terms. 

Rockingham,  outwardly  a  stoic,  as  became  his 
attitude  to  life,  did  not  relax  a  muscle.  It  was 
impossible  to  read  any  kind  of  emotion  into  the 
urbane  half-smile  with  which  he  received  Mr 
Draper's  announcement.  But  his  three  colleagues, 
deeply  solicitous  for  the  country,  were  not  able  to 
accept  the  blow  with  this  slightly  contemptuous 
detachment.  To  them  it  meant  total  darkness  and 
eclipse. 

The  silence  which  followed  was  painful  and 
prolonged.  The  President  of  the  Committee  of 
Public  Safety,  standing  tense  in  every  line,  had 
grown  very  pale.  The  deeply  expressive,  luminous 
face  was  strangely  drawn.  The  sunken"  eyes  were 
fixed  upon  Rockingham.  None  had  realized  until 
this  moment  what  implacable  enemies  they  were. 

299 


300  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

At  last  the  silence  was  broken.  It  was  broken 
by  the  one  among  the  five  persons  present  whose 
voice  had  the  least  authority,  by  the  one  indeed  who 
had  the  least  right  to  be  present  in  such  an  assembly. 

"Why  can't  you?"  said  Loring  in  a  rather  queer, 
wholly  ineffectual  voice  that  was  strangely  different 
from  his  normal  one. 

A  further  silence  ensued,  and  then  Draper  took 
up  the  question. 

"I  will  tell  you  why,  Lord  Loring."  There  was 
a  slow  gathering  together  of  the  man's  immense 
hidden  reserves  of  power.  "I  will  tell  you  why,  in 
the  fewest  possible  words.  The  Duke  of  Rocking- 
ham is  a  contemptible  blackguard." 

The  three  colleagues  of ,  the  Prime  Minister-elect 
sprang  to  their  feet.  The  liveliest  horror  was  in 
their  faces.  Rockingham,  on  the  contrary,  kept 
his  chair  and  folded  his  arms  with  an  air  of  the 
completest  indifference.  The  half-smile,  now  tinged 
with  a  slight,  almost  imperceptible  mockery,  was 
still  upon  his  face. 

"He  has  sought  my  ruin  by  every  means  in  his 
power."  The  accusation  was  made  passionlessly. 
"He  has  spread  and  fostered  a  base  calumny,  he 
has  perverted  my  wife  and  turned  her  against  me. 
I  know  he  has  always  regarded  me  as  an  enemy  of 
the  country.  His  hatred  of  me  is  sincere  and 
perhaps  disinterested.     That  justice  will  I  render 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  301 

him.  But  I  should  be  less  than  a  man  or  I  should 
be  more  if  I  did  not  resent  by  all  the  means  that  are 
open  to  me  the  machinations  of  one  whom  I  abhor 
from  the  depths  of  my  soul." 

Again  came  a  painful  silence.  The  colleagues  of 
Rockingham  were  too  much  astonished  and  too 
much  distressed  to  intervene. 

"My  lord  duke"  —  Draper  moved  a  pace  for- 
ward to  where  Rockingham  sat  —  "you  have  done 
me  the  greatest  injury  that  one  man  can  do  another. 
I  should  not  have  consented  to  meet  you  now, 
except  with  one  particular  and  especial  purpose  in 
my  mind.  My  lord  duke,  this  is  the  purpose  for 
which  I  have  met  you." 

As  he  spoke  he  struck  Rockingham  a  light  blow 
on  the  cheek  with  the  palm  of  his  hand. 

Grundy,  Mauleverer,  and  Loring  stood  petrified. 
Not  one  of  them  had  dared  to  foresee  the  design 
that  was  in  the  mind  of  Draper.  They  were  power- 
less to  do  anything.  Indeed  there  was  nothing 
they  could  do. 

"I  formally  challenge  you,"  said  James  Draper. 

Rockingham  rose  slowly  to  his  feet.  His  great 
height  and  impressive  personality  seemed  for  a 
moment  to  overshadow  his  adversary. 

"As  you  wish,  Mr.  Draper,"  he  said  almost 
negligently.  "I  shall  be  most  happy  to  give  you 
any  satisfaction  that  lies  within  my  power. " 


302  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"May  I  suggest  to-morrow  morning  as  soon  as 
there  is  light  enough,"  said  Draper  curtly.  "There 
is  a  field  here  behind  this  inn  which  might  suit  our 


convenience. 


It  will  suit  me  perfectly, "  said  Rockingham. 

"You,  of  course,  have  the  choice  of  weapons. " 

"I  am  afraid  I  am  not  up  in  the  rules,"  said 
Rockingham  with  a  well-considered  air.  "I  was  not 
even  aware  that  people  fought  duels  nowadays. 
But  if  you  really  feel  I  have  done  you  a  deep  personal 
injury, "  he  added  with  a  courtesy  that  was  charming, 
"I  shall  be  most  happy  to  oblige  you  in  any  way 
that  may  be  open  to  me. " 

Mr.  Draper  bowed. 

"I  believe  it  to  be  usual  in  these  somewhat 
difficult  circumstances  "  —  a  subtle  note  of  mockery 
came  into  Rockingham's  voice  —  "to  leave  the 
discussion  of  details  to  third  and  fourth  parties. 
Our  seconds  —  and  I  hope  two  among  our  three 
friends  here  will  do  us  the  honour  to  repre- 
sent us,  unless  Mr.  Draper  has  other  views  — 
may  perhaps  be  able  to  arrange  the  details  of  our 
meeting  to-night." 

"The  suggestion  is  excellent,"  said  Draper  with 
a  very  matter-of-fact  air.  "I  shall  ask  my  friend 
Grundy  to  represent  me  if  he  will  have  the  great 
kindness  to  do  so. " 

The  leader  of  the  Centre  stood  visibly  perturbed. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  303 

He  directed  a  look  of  mingled  consternation  and 
incredulity  at  his  two  companions  that  in  other 
circumstances  would  have  been  comic. 

"Perhaps  Lord  Loring  will  be  my  man,"  said 
Rockingham,  whose  manner  was  equally  to  the 
point.     "Will  you  be  my  man,  Loring?" 

"Hasn't  this  foolery  gone  far  enough?"  said 
the  master  of  Cloudesley,  finding  his  tongue  at 
last. 

"Lord  Loring  "  —  the  voice  of  Draper  had  taken 
a  curious  note  —  "I  can  only  say  that  as  there  is  a 
God  in  heaven  it  is  my  clear  and  fixed  intention  to 
meet  the  Duke  of  Rockingham. " 

The  tone  no  less  than  the  words  seemed  to  strike 
a  chill  to  the  heart. 

"It  is  madness,  it  is  worse  than  madness,"  said 
Loring. 

"You  may  be  right,  Lord  Loring,"  said  Draper 
rather  forlornly,  "but  the  affair  is  out  of  my  hands. 
A  Higher  Power  has  intervened. " 

"But  the  country,  man,  the  country!"  cried  Lor- 
ing aghast. 

"Yes,"  said  Draper  in  a  falling  voice,  "I  know, 
I  know.  But,  as  I  say,  this  thing  is  out  of  my 
hands." 

"But  surely,  man,"  said  Loring,  "you  must  realize 
that  if  anything  happens  to  you  or  to  Rockingham 
many  thousands   of   lives    may   be    sacrificed.     It 


304  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

is  the  most  colossal  piece  of  egotism  I  have  ever 
heard." 

Draper  was  silent.  It  was  noticed  that  the  sweat 
had  begun  to  pour  down  his  face. 

"Lord  Loring,"  he  said  in  a  voice  that  almost 
failed  him,  "this  matter  is  out  of  my  hands.  I  can 
say  no  more  than  that. " 


XIII 

ROCKINGHAM  and  his  three  companions  filed 
very  slowly  and  in  a  gingerly  manner  down  the 
dark  stairs  of  the  inn.  It  was  with  a  sense  of 
profound  relief  that  they  found  themselves  at  last 
in  the  open  air.  It  now  was  quite  dark.  A  moon- 
less February  night  was  come.  There  was  a  light 
fall  of  rain  in  the  air. 

The  four  men  walked  abreast.  Not  a  word  was 
spoken  by  one  of  them  until  they  had  passed  through 
the  gates  of  the  porter's  lodge  and  halfway  up  the 
long  avenue  to  the  house  which  yawned  before  them 
like  a  crypt. 

At  last  the  voice  of  Loring  was  heard.  It  sounded 
ghostly  and  hollow, 

"I  have  always  thought  him  a  bit  cracked,"  he 
said. 

None  of  the  others  answered  him.  In  a  silence 
which  seemed  the  deeper  for  having  been  disturbed, 
they  walked  on.  There  was  only  the  muffled, 
rhythmical  sound  of  their  feet  falling  upon  the 
gravel  and  the  gentle  patter  of  the  rain  upon  the 
canopy  of  leaves  overhead. 

30s 


306  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

They  came  to  the  house  and  entered,  still  without 
speaking.  Divested  of  their  overcoats  they  seemed 
to  move  automatically,  instinctively,  in  the  direction 
of  the  library.  Loring  opened  the  door  and  held  it 
for  the  others  to  enter.  The  moment  they  had  done 
so,  he  entered  too  and  closed  the  door  after  him. 

They  formed  a  little  group  upon  the  hearthrug 
before  the  fire.  Still  no  word  passed,  but  in  the 
faces  of  them  all,  in  that  of  Rockingham  no  less  than 
that  of  the  others,  was  a  look  of  utter  consternation. 

Finally  it  was  Evan  Mauleverer  who  spoke. 

"Well?"  he  said. 

That  monosyllable  seemed  to  embody  the  sense 
of  impotence  that  was  common  to  them  all. 

"Well,  what's  to  be  done.f"'  said  Evan  Mauleverer. 

"Things  must  take  their  course,  I  think,"  said 
Rockingham  quietly.  "After  all,  the  proposal  is 
not  unhonourable. " 

"My  dear  Robert,"  said  Evan  Mauleverer,  "I 
feel  very  strongly  that  none  of  us  can  be  a  party  to 
this  amazing  proposition. " 

"Why  not,  my  dear  fellow.'*" 

"Why  not.?" 

"Yes,  my  dear  fellow,  I  repeat  —  why  not?  As 
I  say,  to  my  mind  the  proposal  is  quite  an  honourable 
one,  and  in  the  circumstances  even  a  legitimate  one." 

"Honourable!  Legitimate!  Are  you  going  to 
admit  that  it  is  justified?" 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  307 

"Certainly,"  said  Rockingham  coolly.  "No  man 
ever  tried  harder  to  ruin  another  than  I  tried  to  ruin 
that  fellow.  You  all  know  that.  And  I  consider 
the  state  of  the  country  to  be  my  justification. 
Unfortunately  I  do  not  appear  to  have  been  able 
to  do  it,  and  that  is  my  only  regret. " 

This  cynical  candour  seemed  to  intensify  the 
strain. 

"The  whole  house  of  cards  is  on  the  ground,  at  any 
rate,"  said  Evan  Mauleverer. 

"Not  a  doubt  of  it." 

"Well,  my  dear  Robert,  what  is  the  next  turn  in 
the  game  to  be.^" 

"I  may  be  better  able  to  tell  you  at  this  time 
to-morrow. " 

Thereupon  Rockingham  sauntered  out  of  the  room. 

Left  to  themselves,  the  three  others,  so  diverse 
in  their  natures  yet  fused  into  a  kind  of  fraternity 
by  the  similarity  of  their  outlook  upon  the  world, 
made  each  his  confession  of  impotence. 

"Well,  what's  to  be  done?"  asked  Evan  Maul- 
everer, repeating  his  futile  question. 

"If  you  want  my  opinion,"  said  Loring,  "they 
have  both  fully  made  up  their  minds  to  have  it  out. 
And  in  the  circumstances  I  am  by  no  means  sure 
they  are  not  right. " 

"It  is  putting  back  the  clock  a  hundred  years," 
said  Evan  Mauleverer. 


3o8  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Yes,  but  the  circumstances  are  altogether  ex- 
ceptional." 

"I  feel  it  to  be  our  clear  duty  to  avert  a  meeting 
by  every  means  in  our  power.  I  feel  sure,  my  dear 
Grundy,  that  you  agree." 

"Well,  since  you  ask  me,"  said  the  leader  of 
the  Centre,  whose  reputation  was  founded  upon 
compromise,  "I  am  bound  to  say  I  do.  I  think  the 
proposal  is  altogether  monstrous  at  this  time  of 
day,  and  yet  the  odd  thing  is  that  I  am  by  no  means 
clear  that  ethically  it  is  not  correct. " 

"I  expect  we  all  feel  that  more  or  less,"  said 
Evan  Mauleverer  sadly.  "We  have  all  of  us  felt 
from  the  first  that  this  thing  has  been  played  up 
far  too  high." 

"Why  have  you  fellows  played  it  up  so  high."*" 
asked  the  leader  of  the  Centre. 

"Well,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  tell  you,"  said 
the  leader  of  the  Right,  "that  Draper  has  aroused 
an  extraordinary  personal  animus  against  himself. 
I  suppose  it  is  inevitable  that  any  man  should  who 
sets  class  against  class." 

"We  in  the  Centre,  as  you  know,"  said  Grundy, 
adopting  the  suave  legal  manner  which  earlier  in 
his  career  had  brought  him  fame  at  the  Bar,  "are 
not  prepared  to  admit  that  he  has  been  guilty  of 
such  a  crime.  Still  we  shall  always  respect  the 
bona  fides  of  the  duke  and  his  friends,"  he  added. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  309 

"In  their  view  Draper  is  an  enemy  of  the  country  — 
I  will  not  say  because  he  has  hit  the  landlords  so 
hard  in  their  pockets.  I  will  not  say  because  of 
Draper's  intimacy  with  the  duchess,  which  I  for 
one  believe  to  be  entirely  innocent.  I  am  prepared 
to  believe  that  the  antagonism  is  even  deeper  and 
more  subtle  than  this.  I  think  it  is  because  they 
are  fighting  with  their  backs  to  the  wall.  They  are 
menaced  as  they  never  have  been  menaced  in  this 
country  since  the  time  of  Cromwell.  They  know 
they  have  to  deal  with  a  very  powerful  adversary, 
who  seems  to  have  rendered  them  desperate.  And, 
to  vary  the  metaphor  and  to  use  a  candour  that  I 
hope  will  be  forgiven,  I  am  afraid  that  Rocking- 
ham like  a  ruined  gamester  has  been  tempted  to 
use  loaded  dice." 

"By  God,  you  shan't  say  that!"  said  Loring  hotly. 

"But  Rockingham  has  admitted  the  fact,"  said 
Grundy  tenaciously. 

"I  don't  agree." 

"Let  us  waive  the  point.  But  in  any  case  it  seems 
impossible  to  compose  the  quarrel  between  them. 
And  we  are  still  face  to  face  with  the  problem  of 
what  is  the  right  course  to  pursue  in  these  terribly 
difficult  circumstances." 

"Yes,  that  is  the  eternal  problem  I  grant  you," 
said  Evan  Mauleverer.  "At  all  events,  I  think 
one  of  us  should  see  the  King  to-night. " 


3IO  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Do  you  advise  taking  him  fully  into  our  con- 
fidence?" asked  the  leader  of  the  Centre. 

"Yes,  I  am  in  favour  of  that  course  myself. 
After  all,  he  is  a  man  of  the  world. " 

"But,"  said  Grundy,  "this  affair  will  cause  him 
the  greatest  distress.  Indeed  I  feel  very  strongly 
that  every  means  must  be  used  to  prevent  them 
from  proceeding  to  extremities.  Should  any  un- 
toward accident  happen,  a  very  grave  responsibility 
will  rest  upon  us  all." 

"Theoretically  you  are  right,"  said  Evan  Maul- 
everer,  "but  in  practice  I  am  afraid  that  none  of  us 
has  the  power  to  prevent  them. " 

"Whatever  view  one  takes  of  it,"  said  Grundy, 
"it  is  a  very  grievous  matter.  And  in  the  present 
state  of  the  country  it  is  a  very  deplorable  matter. 
And,  in  any  case,  I  think  before  we  decide  to  invoke 
the  aid  of  the  King  we  shall  do  well  to  take  the  advice 
of  Lord  Peveril. " 

Mauleverer  and  Loring  saw  at  once  the  expedience 
of  this  course.  Thereupon  the  host  sought  out  the 
old  man,  whom  he  found  to  be  engaged  in  writing 
letters,  and  presently  returned  with  him  to  the 
library. 

Mauleverer  was  deputed  to  tell  the  news.  Lord 
Peveril  was  shocked  and  distressed  when  he  learned 
what  had  occurred.  He  was  strongly  of  opinion 
that  no  means  must  be  neglected  by  which  Rocking- 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  311 

ham  and  Draper  could  be  prevented  from  proceeding 
to  extremities. 

"It  will  be  to  the  lasting  discredit  of  all  con- 
cerned," said  Lord  Peveril,  "if  we  permit  this  thing 
to  go  on.  Irreparable  injury  to  the  country  is 
bound  to  result.  I  will  see  this  man  myself.  I  am 
sure  it  would  be  the  King's  desire.    I  will  go  at  once." 

Lord  Peveril  displayed  the  capacity  for  prompt 
action  of  one  half  his  years.  A  long  lifetime's 
association  with  representative  minds  and  an 
intimate  knowledge  of  public  affairs  conferred  a 
very  special  authority  upon  him.  The  others  felt 
strengthened  by  his  council  and  it  was  with  a  sense 
of  gratitude  and  relief  that  they  sped  him  to  his 
mission  to  the  village  inn. 

The  master  of  the  house  ordered  round  a  motor- 
car, and  Lord  Peveril  promised  to  return  with  the 
least  possible  delay. 

That  return  was  most  anxiously  awaited.  Was 
it  too  much  to  hope  that  the  wisdom  of  this  old  and 
good  man  would  prevail?  As  men  of  the  world, 
they  were  fain  to  believe  that  the  line  taken  by 
Draper,  extreme  and  uncompromising  as  it  was, 
reflected  no  moral  discredit  upon  him.  "Unto  him 
that  smiteth  thee  on  one  cheek  offer  also  the  other," 
was  to  them  hardly  more  than  an  academic  precept. 
They  were  content  to  take  the  world  as  they  found 
it;  and  the  man  who  in  the  right  place  and  season 


3ii  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

could  return  a  blow,  perhaps  with  interest  added, 
was  he  of  whom  the  best  account  could  be  rendered. 

Lord  Peveril  was  away  a  full  hour.  He  returned 
in  a  state  of  the  deepest  dejection.  Not  only  had 
he  found  it  impossible  to  move  Draper  from  his 
purpose,  but  it  had  hardly  been  possible  to  discuss 
the  subject  with  him. 


XIV 

THE  news  was  kept  sedulously  from  the  other 
inmates  of  the  house,  but  immediately  after 
dinner,  a  dull  and  gloomy  meal.  Lord  Peveril  sought 
out  Draper's  wife.  He  led  her  apart  to  a  quiet 
corner  of  the  drawing-room.  In  a  few  brief  and 
broken  words  he  told  her  what  had  occurred.  The 
old  man's  manner  made  it  clear  to  Lady  Aline  that 
he  was  suffering  the  acutest  distress  of  mind. 

"My  dear,"  said  Lord  Peveril  with  the  tears 
beginning  to  course  down  his  face,  "if  your  husband 
perseveres  in  his  present  design,  which  is  to  kill 
Rockingham  at  daybreak  to-morrow,  or  if  by  any 
mischance  Rockingham  should  kill  him,  we  shall 
have  the  deluge  upon  us.  The  floodgates  will 
burst,  the  monarchy  and  all  our  most  cherished 
institutions  will  be  swept  away,  and  the  country 
will  be  bathed  in  blood  from  one  end  to  the  other. 
Do  not  think  these  are  the  words  of  an  alarmist. 
Only  too  well  do  I  know  the  state  the  country  is  in. 
Only  a  miracle  can  keep  Labour  from  the  throat  of 
Capital  as  it  is;  your  husband  is  the  only  man  alive 
who  can  perform  that  miracle,  and  if  by  any  mis- 

313 


314  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

chance  he  loses  his  life  in  this  insane  and  wicked 
brawl,  or  if  by  an  almost  equal  mischance  he  is 
insane  and  wicked  enough  to  take  the  life  of  Rock- 
ingham, we  shall  witness  a  thing  too  dreadful  to 
contemplate." 

The  wife  of  Draper  was  affected  deeply  by  such 
a  speech.  It  proceeded  from  the  lips  of  one  for 
whom  she  had  a  profound  and  instinctive  reverence. 
This  was  a  known  good  man;  moreover,  an  accom- 
plished and  wise  man,  whose  habit  it  was  on  all 
occasions  of  life  to  express  himself  temperately. 

She  was  not  an  emotional  woman.  But  now  her 
distress  was  very  acute.  Moreover,  it  was  tinged 
with  remorse.  Whatever  had  been  the  nature  of 
her  husband's  relations  with  Evelyn  Rockingham, 
and  until  the  previous  evening  she  had  had  good 
reason  to  construe  them  in  the  worst  possible  light, 
she  now  began  to  realize  with  an  almost  over- 
whelming sense  of  shame  and  horror  that  she  had 
allowed  herself  to  be  made  the  tool  of  Rockingham 
himself. 

As  the  truth  began  to  dawn  upon  her,  she  grew 
deadly  white. 

"Oh,  what  have  I  done!" 

One  by  one  the  words  were  wrung  out  of  her. 

Lord  Peveril,  the  slow  tears  still  coursing  down 
his  cheeks,  sat  in  silence  by  her  side. 

"Oh,  my  God,  what  have  I  done!" 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  315 

The  unhappy  woman  covered  her  face  with  her 
hands. 

All  at  once  her  pride  and  her  will  seemed  to 
break.     The  slight  frame  was  shaken  with  emotion. 

The  old  man  by  her  side  took  one  of  the  ice-cold 
hands  in  his. 

"I  have  been  mad,"  she  moaned.  "I  have  been 
base.  I  have  been  inconceivably  wicked.  God 
forgive  me. "     Again  she  covered  her  face. 

Lord  Peveril  was  overcome  with  pity.  Such  a 
distress  was  very  painful  to  witness. 

"Ought  I  to  see  him?"  she  asked  wildly.  "Could 
I  do  any  good  if  I  went  to  see  him  to-night .''" 

"You  yourself  can  be  the  sole  judge  of  that," 
said  the  old  man  very  gently. 

She  shivered.  There  was  something  in  the  words, 
kindly  spoken  as  they  were,  that  seemed  to  open 
a  vein  in  her  body. 

"O  God!"  she  cried  wildly.  She  clasped  her 
hands  to  her  heart. 


XV 

A  LITTLE  later  that  evening  the  occupant 
of  the  private  sitting-room  at  the  Coach  and 
Horses  was  seated  on  a  rickety  chair  at  a  rickety 
table  writing  busily.  He  was  completely  absorbed 
in  his  task.  Now  and  again  he  paused  to  bite  the 
end  of  the  penholder  in  order  that  he  might  grapple 
the  better  with  his  thoughts.  They  appeared  neither 
to  flow  nor  to  be  well  ordered. 

The  face  of  the  man  was  deeply  lined  and  deadly 
pale,  It  was  framed  by  a  mass  of  hair  which  in 
a  few  weeks  had  grown  almost  white.  The  whole 
aspect  was  that  of  one  who  suffers  an  almost  insup- 
portable burden,  but  whose  will,  thrice  welded  in 
the  furnace,  still  remains  inviolate.  Looking  at  such 
a  face  without  any  knowledge  of  its  history,  an 
observer  must  have  felt  it  to  be  that  of  an  indomita- 
ble fighter  perilously  near  his  overthrow. 

The  act  of  composition  was  a  sore  labour.  The 
writer  was  trying  to  express  something  that  was 
elusive,  intangible,  that  continually  declined  to  be 
expressed.  Several  times  he  wrote  a  sentence, 
crossed  it  out,  wrote  over  it,  and  then,  still  unsatis- 

316 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  317 

fied,  destroyed  the  page.  His  gloomy  eyes,  tinged 
a  little  with  blood,  began  to  show  a  look  of  hope- 
lessness. Every  fresh  attempt  that  he  made  ap- 
peared to  take  him  a  step  farther  from  the  goal  of 
his  intention. 

At  last  with  a  sigh  of  despair  he  laid  down  the  pen. 
It  was  as  if  he  realized  that  he  was  overwrought  and 
that  he  did  not  enjoy  the  full  use  of  his  faculties. 
His  mental  state  could  hardly  have  caused  him 
surprise.  His  head  had  not  touched  a  pillow  for 
many  weary  hours. 

Presently  he  closed  his  eyes  and  sought  to  impose 
some  control  upon  the  race  of  his  thoughts.  They 
were  terribly  insurgent.  The  exigencies  of  the  hour 
seemed  to  be  pressing  him  to  death.  Fragments 
of  his  early  life  began  to  present  themselves  at 
intervals  in  this  mental  chimera;  he  heard  his 
mother's  voice  and  saw  her  face.  Then  he  saw  the 
face  of  one  other  and  he  felt  a  curious  restriction  of 
the  throat  and  breast. 

What  that  other  had  meant  to  him  the  man  of 
iron  will  had  hardly  known  until  now.  She  and 
his  country  were  the  supreme  things  in  his  life. 
He  had  lost  her.  Was  he  about  to  lose  his  country? 
was  he  about  to  destroy  her  by  the  dreadful  step 
of  the  morrow  ?  It  had  all  been  referred  to  the  God 
who  was  so  real  to  him;  yet,  alas!  in  spite  of  his 
faith,  to  which  he  clung  with  desperate  tenacity,  he 


3i8  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

was  in  many  ways  no  more  than  the  creature  of  his 
generation,  a  frail  mortal  shuddering  upon  the  brink 
of  the  abyss. 

He  was  trying  to  indite  a  few  brief  pages  of 
counsel  to  the  Sovereign,  that  true  friend  of  the 
country,  in  case  of  his  own  death  at  daybreak. 
He  was  even  seeking  to  vindicate  his  death  in  the 
event  of  its  occurrence.  But  how  was  it  possible 
to  do  that.f*  What  vindication  was  there  for  such 
a  deed.^  It  must  seem  an  act  of  gross  selfishness 
that  he  of  all  men  should  have  deserted  the  ship 
with  the  rocks  grinding  her  keel.  And  yet  what 
could  he  do?  He  must  go  through  with  this  thing. 
It  was  part  of  his  destiny.  The  voice  of  reason 
had  addressed  him  many  remonstrances,  but  for 
some  little  time  past  he  had  come  to  feel  that  he 
had  entered  the  region  of  the  supra-natural.  It  was 
as  if  his  soul  had  passed  into  the  custody  of  some 
higher  power. 

He  laid  down  the  pen  with  a  growing  sense  of 
dismay.  There  was  too  much  to  be  said  to  him 
who  of  all  men  discerned  his  worth  in  the  sum  of 
things.  He  recalled  the  whispered  words  of  their 
parting:  "My  dear  Draper,  if  you  find  you  can 
serve  under  Rockingham,  I  think  you  will  save  us; 
but  if  you  find  you  cannot,  I  at  least  shall  under- 
stand." 

Suddenly  a  moan  escaped  the  man  in  his  agony. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  319 

Like  an  animal  caught  in  a  trap  he  realized  that  he 
was  taken  in  the  coils  of  some  unknown  power. 
When  he  had  left  London  that  morning  it  had  been 
his  fixed  determination  to  confer  with  Rockingham 
and  to  enter  his  Cabinet  if  a  way  could  be  found. 
But,  confronted  with  the  man  in  that  miserable 
little  room,  he  had  been  suddenly  possessed  by  some 
primordial  force  which  had  made  him  speak  and  act 
as  he  had  not  intended. 

In  the  midst  of  the  torment  that  was  closing  in 
upon  him,  that  was  pinning  him  down,  he  seemed 
to  hear  a  soft  footfall  on  the  stairs.  In  a  dim, 
remote  way  it  echoed  through  the  chambers  of  his 
brain.  And  then  he  began  to  realize  that  the  door 
of  the  sitting-room  had  opened  and  had  closed  again, 
and  that  away  beyond  the  lamp  there  was  a  presence 
in  the  room. 

With  insurgent  nerves  he  rose  from  his  chair 
at  the  table  to  satisfy  himself  that  this  was  the  fact. 
There  was  a  form  in  blurred  outline,  partly  concealed 
by  the  shadows  of  the  door. 

"Who  is  it."*"  he  said  hoarsely. 

He  had  not  to  wait  for  an  answer. 

The  reply  was  given  in  the  low  voice  of  a  woman. 

Without  surprise  he  recognized  it  as  the  voice 
which  had  been  stealing  through  the  inner  purlieus 
of  his  mind  during  the  whole  of  that  evening. 

"Aline,"  he  said. 


320  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Yes  — it  is  I." 

A  cloak  had  been  thrown  over  her  dinner  gown; 
her  shining,  ordered  hair  was  uncovered;  the  tiny 
satin  slippers  made  not  a  sound  as  they  moved 
toward  him. 

"Jim,"  she  said,  "I  want  you  to  kill  me." 

Limply,  mutely,  she  sank  down  before  him, 
pressing  her  forehead  against  his  knees.  In  the 
next  moment  she  had  prostrated  herself  completely 
at  his  feet. 

For  a  little  while  she  lay  there.  Then  he  gathered 
her  slowly  in  his  arms  and  raised  her  up.  With 
a  strength  easily  capable  of  crushing  out  the  slender 
exquisite  life,  he  held  the  slight  form  before  him. 

She  felt  the  labouring  breaths  meeting  hers. 
She  did  not  struggle.  But  one  thing  she  desired, 
and  that  was  that  death  should  come  to  her  swiftly. 

Her  eyes  were  wide  at  the  level  of  his.  All  too 
slowly  darkness  was  overcoming  them.  She  lay 
perfectly  passive,  perfectly  inert.  She  seemed  to 
feel  that  her  life  was  ebbing,  and  yet  she  had  not 
expected  death  to  be  like  this. 

Quite  suddenly  it  was  borne  in  upon  her  senses 
that  his  grip  had  relaxed,  and  that  the  light  was 
coming  back  to  her  eyes.  There  at  the  level  of  hers 
were  the  eyes  with  the  tinge  of  blood  in  them.  The 
face  was  full  of  an  intolerable  anguish ;  the  forehead 
was  all  wrung  and  distended. 


XVI 

IN  the  next  instant  she  had  swooned. 
She  awoke  presently  to  find  arms  of  a  famil- 
iar tenderness  about  her.  She  lay  back,  brushing 
her  hair  against  his  cheek. 
'  All  that  had  been  their  life  in  the  past,  which 
in  the  madness  of  anger  and  reprisal  had  been 
discarded,  rushed  back  upon  her.  This  was  the 
love  she  had  known  and  betrayed;  this  was  the 
love  she  had  spurned  and  forgotten.  Again  she 
asked  for  death,  but  now  he  smothered  in  kisses 
the  lips  that  sought  it. 

In  the  anguish  of  remorse  she  could  have  screamed. 
But  already  she  was  growing  weak  again.  Like  a 
timid  child  afraid  of  the  dark,  she  quivered  against 
his  coat.  Her  whole  being  was  shaken  with  sobs 
that  refused  to  come  out  of  her  body. 

For  hours  she  lay  in  his  arms.  In  spite  of  all 
that  had  happened,  they  were  still  as  they  were. 
Perhaps  more  than  they  were.  In  their  life  together 
they  had  known  great  moments.  And  now  they 
had  passed  through  a  furnace  seven  times  heated. 
Their  passion  was  raised  to  a  higher  power.     Perhaps 

321 


322  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

never  until  then  had  she  known  what  depths  there 
were  in  him,  what  a  quality  of  mingled  strength  and 
tenderness  was  his.  It  may  have  been  that  since 
last  they  had  lain  in  the  arms  of  each  other  a  cubit 
had  been  added  to  each  of  their  statures.  At  least 
he  meant  more  to  her  now  than  he  had  ever  meant 
to  her  formerly. 

Was  he  not  so  much  more  than  the  indomitable 
fighter,  the  successful  politician?  "I  am  sure  you 
will  go  far,"  she  had  said  to  him  on  the  night  of  their 
marriage.  "Wherever  I  go  you  must  be  with  me 
always,"  had  been  his  answer.  Again  remorse  over- 
came her.  What  had  she  done!  To  what  uttermost 
Hades  had  she  consigned  him! 

The  hours  passed.  They  both  desired  that 
death  should  come  to  them,  as  thus  they  lay  in  the 
arms  of  each  other.  Not  a  word  was  spoken  except 
when  now  and  again  he  bade  her  very  gently  try 
to  sleep.  But  sleep  was  very  far  away.  At  the 
back  of  her  brain  was  dull  terror.  This  night  of 
rekindled  love  and  reconciliation  must  pass  all  too 
soon.  Her  soul  shuddered  when  she  remembered 
what  the  dawn  must  bring. 

Some  time  after  three  o'clock  by  the  crazy  little 
clock  on  the  chimneypiece  he  carried  her  over  very 
tenderly  to  the  sofa,  and  laid  her  there.  Then  he 
draped  the  gay  cloak  about  her,  and  sat  down  again 
at  the  table,  and  took  up  the  pen. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  323 

He  was  far  better  able  now  to  order  his  thoughts. 
The  words  began  to  flow.  He  found  it  possible  to 
draw  up  a  sort  of  precis  of  the  situation  for  the 
guidance  of  the  Sovereign  in  case  of  his  own  death 
at  daybreak.  Also  he  wrote  a  score  of  letters  to  be 
deHvered,  in  that  event,  to  those  who  looked  to  him 
for  guidance. 

He  worked  calmly  and  well  until  about  six  o'clock, 
while  the  occupant  of  the  sofa  lay  watching  him, 
with  wide,  haunted  eyes.  Then  his  labours  were 
disturbed  by  a  knock  on  the  door,  and  a  slatternly 
maid-servant  came  into  the  room.  She  had  brought 
the  information  that  a  gentleman  was  below  in  the 
coffee-room  who  desired  to  speak  with  him. 

He  descended  there  and  on  the  threshold  of  that 
dismal  apartment,  smelling  strongly  of  cheese  and 
stale  sauces,  he  was  received  by  a  burly,  rubicund 
individual  in  a  mackintosh  with  the  collar  turned  up, 
and  a  soft  hat  pulled  down  over  his  eyes. 

They  entered  the  coifee-room  together,  closing 
the  door  after  them.  The  visitor  then  removed 
his  hat,  unbuttoned  his  mackintosh,  turned  down 
the  collar,  and  disclosed  the  homely  features  of  the 
master  of  Cloudesley. 

"The  duke  has  asked  me  to  act  for  him,"  he  said 
bluntly  and  briefly.     "Who  is  your  own  man?" 

"Grundy,  I  hope.  I  know  of  no  one  else.  Please 
try   to   persuade   him.     I   sincerely   hope   he   will. 


324  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

although  it  seems  unkind  to  ask  him,  because  he  is 
beyond  all  things  a  man  of  peace." 

"Yes,  it  seems  hardly  his  line  of  country,"  said 
Loring,  with  a  rather  forced  laugh.  "But  there 
is  no  one  else  apparently.  We  can  try  him,  at  any 
rate.  Will  eight  o'clock  suit  you.''  There  should 
be  light  enough  by  then." 

"Eight  o'clock  will  suit  me  perfectly." 

"  In  one  of  the  fields  at  the  back  here  ? " 

"Yes." 

"Very  well.  Grundy  and  I  will  choose  the 
ground  —  that's  if  he'll  act,  of  course.  Rockingham, 
by  the  way,  has  chosen  pistols,  although  I  am  to 
tell  you  that  he  is  quite  willing  that  the  choice  of 
weapons  should  be  left  to  you." 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  him.     Pistols  then. " 

"He  thinks  it  would  be  advisable  to  use  weapons 
and  cartridges  of  a  similar  type.  I  happen  to  have 
a  pair  of  Webleys.     Will  those  do .'"' 

"Yes,  thanks." 

"Very  well.  Eight  o'clock.  And  Grundy  and 
I  will  choose  and  mark  the  ground." 

Lord  Loring  concluded  the  interview  with  a  brisk 
and  businesslike  air,  and  marched  out  of  the  coffee- 
room  into  the  mirk  and  the  rain  of  a  rather  wild 
February  morning. 


XVII 

MR.  DRAPER  courteously  attended  his  visitor 
to  the  inn  door  and  watched  him  depart. 
He  then  summoned  the  slatternly  servant  girl,  and 
ordered  some  tea  to  be  brought  up  to  the  sitting- 
room  at  seven  o'clock.  Then  he  returned  to  his 
labours. 

Still  perfectly  calm,  with  mind  clear  and  well 
ordered,  he  continued  to  write,  while  the  occupant 
of  the  sofa  lay  watching  him.  The  look  of  horror 
was  still  in  her  eyes.  A  little  before  seven  his 
labours  were  at  an  end,  and  the  last  packet  sealed. 
Then  he  sat  by  the  side  of  his  wife,  gently  chafing 
her  ice-cold  hands. 

Not  a  word  did  they  speak.  The  fateful  minutes 
passed.  Again  were  they  experiencing  that  passion 
of  the  spirit  which  had  borne  them  through  the  night. 

Suddenly,  without  preliminaries  of  any  kind,  a 
woman  came  quite  unexpectedly  into  the  room. 

It  was  Evelyn  Rockingham. 

The  occupant  of  the  sofa  sprang  to  her  feet  as 
if  a  blow  had  been  dealt  her.  Her  husband  took 
her  in  his  arms  and  gently  made  her  lie  down  again. 

325 


326  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Come  over  here,  my  dear  Evelyn,"  he  said. 
"Come  and  put  your  hand  in  hers.  You  have  both 
to  promise  me  that  you  will  be  friends." 

Evelyn  came  at  once  to  the  sofa  with  both  hands 
outstretched.  There  was  a  radiance  in  her  eyes 
that  only  a  true  woman  could  have  displayed. 

Lady  Aline  shuddered  in  her  embrace. 

"You  have  been  diligent,"  said  Evelyn  Rocking- 
ham to  Draper,  in  a  tone  of  carefully  assumed 
lightness,  as  her  eyes  fell  on  the  great  pile  of  letters 
on  the  table. 

"  I  have  need  to  be, "  said  the  writer  of  the  letters 
in  a  weary  voice.  "By  the  way,  tell  me,  how  have 
you  passed  the  night  over  there?" 

"You  may  well  ask.  Everything  is  in  a  state 
of  inconceivable  panic  and  turmoil." 

"Has  the  affair  leaked  out?"  Draper  asked  the 
question  under  his  breath. 

"Yes,  I  am  afraid.  It  was  known  to  too  many, 
you  see.  Some  of  the  women  may  not  know. 
I  don't  believe  Alice  Loring  does.  But  all  the  men 
are  in  the  secret. " 

"I  am  sorry  for  that,"  said  Draper,  still  in  a 
very  low  tone. 

"  It  was  inevitable,  I  fear.  And  I  understand  they 
are  bringing  all  possible  pressure  to  bear  upon 
Robert  not  to  meet  you." 

He  made  no  comment. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  327 

"But  I  feel  I  ought  to  say  at  once,  my  dear 
James,  they  will  not  succeed.  They  don't  know  their 
Rockingham.  His  Grace's  Cabinet  has  been  sitting 
all  night  in  the  library  in  earnest  deliberation,  and 
his  Grace  has  been  sitting  all  night  reading  Thack- 
eray in  his  private  room. " 

"What  is  the  result  of  their  deliberations."*" 

"That  I  don't  know.  The  conference  was  still 
sitting  at  six  o'clock  this  morning.  Everything 
is  at  sixes  and  sevens.  No  two  members  of  the 
Cabinet  seem  to  think  alike.  One  great  problem 
has  been  whether  they  should  invoke  the  aid  of 
the  King." 

"I  hope  they  have  not  been  so  unwise,"  said 
Draper  anxiously. 

"No,  they  have  not  been  so  unwise.  They  de- 
cided finally  to  call  Lord  Peveril  into  their  councils, 
and  pledged  themselves  to  be  guided  by  his  advice. " 

"I  am  sure  he  would  be  dead  against  it,"  said 
Draper,  with  a  sigh  of  relief. 

"Yes,  he  was  strongly  of  opinion  that  now  was 
not  the  time  for  the  matter  to  be  brought  to  the  ears 
of  the  King. " 

"Sensible  old  man." 

"By  the  way,  there  is  a  rumour  that  Evan  Maul- 
everer  is  in  possession  of  a  letter  from  the  King 
which  is  only  to  be  opened  in  the  event  of  Robert 
being  unable  to  complete  his  Cabinet. " 


328  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

The  President  of  the  Committee  of  PubHc  Safety- 
smiled  rather  dourly. 

"Yes,  my  dear  Evelyn,  I  think  I  am  in  a  position 
to  confirm  that  rumour." 

Her  expressive  face  grew  flushed  and  startled. 

"Oh,  do  tell  me!"  she  said.  "You  are  acquainted 
with  the  contents.?" 

"I  am  afraid  that  is  rather  a  leading  question," 
said  Draper  impassively. 

"Oh,  do  tell  me.     I  am  sure  you  know. " 

"I  cannot  admit  that  I  know,  even  if  I  know  I  do. 
It  was  very  wrong  to  admit  that  I  was  even  aware 
of  the  existence  of  the  letter. " 

Pain  and  deep  disappointment  contended  in  the 
face  of  Evelyn. 

"Forgive  me,"  he  said  very  gently.  "Heaven 
knows  what  depends  upon  this  letter.  It  may  be 
the  crux  of  the  whole  thing.  Pray  forget  that 
I  made  such  an  unguarded  admission,  but,  hav- 
ing made  it,  beyond  all  things  I  desire  to  know 
whether  that  letter  has  been  opened  and  read  to  the 
Cabinet." 

"To  the  best  of  my  information  it  had  not  been 
opened  at  six  o'clock.  I  understand  that  the  ques- 
tion of  opening  the  letter  has  been  debated  furiously 
for  two  hours,  and  that  at  six  o'clock  they  were  still 
unable  to  reach  a  decision  on  the  point. " 

"What  is  their  difficulty?     It  is  abundantly  clear 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  329 

that  Rockingham  will  never  be  able  to  complete 
his  Cabinet  on  the  lines  laid  down." 

"Evan  Mauleverer  and  the  other  extremists  are, 
I  believe,  the  lions  in  the  gate.  They  think  the 
time  has  not  yet  come.  And  they  think  that  when 
the  time  does  come  the  letter  should  be  opened  by 
Robert  himself . " 

"Perhaps  they  are  right  there.  And  yet  I  don't 
think  it  matters  particularly  by  whom  it  is  opened. 
By  the  way,  did  I  understand  you  to  say  that  his 
Grace  has  taken  no  part  in  these  deliberations?" 

"Absolutely  none.  He  has  never  left  his  private 
room  all  night." 

"Why?" 

"That's  the  man.     He's  past  all  understanding." 

"Indifference?" 

"No,  I  should  be  inclined  to  say  pride.  He  must 
always  be  grand  seigneur.  He  must  never  dismount 
from  the  high  horse.  He  must  never  raise  a  finger 
openly,  whatever  he  may  do  under  the  rose."  The 
voice  of  Rockingham's  wife  had  taken  a  note  of  bitter 
contempt.  "It  is  his  strength  and  his  weakness. 
He  is  a  very  strange  enigma." 

"Well,  his  aloofness  may  undo  him." 

"It  may,  but  human  nature  is  a  strange  thing. 
All  sorts  of  qualities  have  been  read  into  him  that 
he  doesn't  possess.  Some  of  them  speak  of  him 
as  a  man  of  blood  and  iron,  but  personally  one  would 


330  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

be  inclined  to  say  of  him  as  Bismarck  said  of  Salis- 
bury, he  is  a  lath  painted  to  look  like  iron. " 

Draper  shook  his  head  rather  sadly. 

"I  am  by  no  means  clear  upon  that  point,  my 
dear  Evelyn,"  he  said,  "but  it  will  be  a  very  merciful 
dispensation  for  this  country  if  that  proves  to  be 
the  case." 

At  this  point  the  conversation  was  interrupted 
by  the  slatternly  servant  girl,  who  came  in  to  lay 
the  breakfast. 

Draper  gave  a  glance  at  the  clock. 

"Twenty  past  seven,"  he  said.  "I  have  until 
eight." 


XVIII 

AN  EXTRA  cup  was  sent  for,  and  each  of  them 
drank  a  cup  of  tea.  Yielding  to  the  maternal 
solicitude  of  Evelyn  Rockingham,  Draper  ate  a  slice 
of  bread  and  butter.  His  self-possession  was  very- 
remarkable.  In  the  mind  of  his  wife  and  in  the 
mind  of  his  friend  was  a  clear  conviction  that  either 
he  or  his  adversary  would  lose  his  life.  Their 
antagonism  was  bitter,  deep-rooted,  intense.  There 
could  be  no  doubt  that  each  had  suffered  heavily 
at  the  hands  of  the  other.  Having  proceeded  to 
such  an  extremity,  neither  was  likely  to  stay  his 
hand  at  the  eleventh  hour.  Draper  was  not  the  man 
to  flinch  from  any  issue,  however  grim  it  might  be; 
and  Rockingham,  slow  to  move,  was  known  to  have 
the  ruthless  force  of  will  of  a  historic  line  of  warriors. 

At  twenty  minutes  to  eight  Draper  retired  to 
perform  a  scanty  toilet.  When  after  the  absence 
of  a  few  minutes  he  returned  to  the  sitting-room 
he  found  the  faithful  Grundy  there. 

"Ah,  my  dear  Grundy,"  he  said  in  his  frank  and 
cordial  way,  "this  is  indeed  noble  of  you." 

The  leader  of  the  Centre  was  aifected  almost  to 

33^ 


332  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

tears.  Unable  to  reply,  he  averted  his  face  from 
that  of  his  colleague.  It  looked  painfully  strained 
and  ashen  white. 

"It  is  a  bad,  and  mad,  and  sad  business,"  he  said 
bitterly.  "I  should  have  judged  myself  to  be  a  man 
of  too  much  sense  to  bear  a  part  in  such  a  piece 
of  buffoonery. " 

Draper  placed  his  hand  impulsively  on  the  shoul- 
der of  the  elder  man. 

"Somebody  had  to  stand,  my  friend,"  he  said 
in  a  low  tone,  "and  I  asked  for  you.  It  is  noble 
of  you. " 

"It  is  a  piece  of  wicked  folly,"  said  the  ex-Prime 
Minister.  "I  shall  never  be  able  to  forgive  myself 
for  being  a  party  to  this  transaction,  and  yet,  as 
you  say,  some  one  had  to  be  your  friend." 

"Mr.  Grundy,"  said  Evelyn  Rockingham,  coming 
forward  from  the  window  from  which  she  had  been 
looking  into  the  dawn,  "can  you  tell  me  what  is  the 
result  of  the  deliberations  of  the  Cabinet.'*  What 
course  is  to  be  taken?" 

The  statesman  to  whom  the  question  was  ad- 
dressed shook  his  head.  "Forgive  me  if  I  reveal 
no  secrets,"  he  said. 

"I  do  not  ask  for  secrets,"  said  she.  "I  was 
hoping  you  had  made  the  result  of  your  deliberations 
known  to  the  world. " 

"Whatever  decision  may  have  been  arrived  at," 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  333 

said  Mr.  Grundy,  with  the  marked  kindness  of  tone 
which  endeared  him  to  so  many,  "I  am  afraid  for 
the  present  the  world  must  remain  in  ignorance. " 

"It  is  five  minutes  to  eight,  my  dear  Grundy," 
said  Draper.  "Let  us  pay  the  compliment  of  being 
on  the  ground  at  the  time  appointed." 

"As  you  wish,"  said  the  ex-Prime  Minister. 

He  turned  abruptly  as  he  spoke,  and,  without  so 
much  as  a  glance  at  either  of  the  two  women,  or 
without  taking  any  sort  of  leave  of  them,  he  led  the 
way  out  of  the  room  and  down  the  stairs.  Draper 
lingered  a  moment  before  he  followed  in  his  wake. 
In  that  moment  he  had  kissed  the  ashen  cheek  of  his 
wife,  and  had  taken  the  two  hands  of  Evelyn  Rock- 
ingham in  his  own. 

"Be  of  good  courage,  deliverer  of  my  country," 
whispered  his  friend  softly  as  his  sombre  eyes  met 
hers. 

When  at  last  he  was  gone  the  two  women  sat 
forlornly  apart.  Evelyn  sat  by  the  window  looking 
through  the  chill  half-light  across  the  inn-yard. 
Aline  crouched  shivering  over  the  uncertain  fire. 
For  some  little  time  each  remained  motionless, 
and  in  absolute  silence.  Not  a  word  was  spoken 
by  either. 

At  last  the  woman  at  the  window  knelt  very 
quietly  before  the  chair  in  which  she  had  been  seated 
and  began  to  pray.     A  little  afterward  the  other 


334  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

woman  slipped  to  her  knees  also,  and  pressing  her 
head  to  the  sofa  began  instinctively  to  do  the  same. 

For  a  period  of  time  that  seemed  to  them  both 
much  longer  than  in  point  of  fact  it  was,  the  two 
women  remained  upon  their  knees.  In  some  subtle 
way  of  which  neither  was  overtly  conscious  they 
seemed  to  derive  strength  from  the  nearness  of  each 
other.  That  their  thoughts  were  centred  on  the 
same  thing  appeared  to  lend  a  curious  intimacy  to 
their  emotion. 

The  clock  upon  the  chimneypiece  told  the  half- 
hour  after  eight.  As  if  galvanized  into  life  by  the 
sound,  Evelyn  Rockingham  sprang  to  her  feet. 

Overwhelming  anguish  forced  her  to  utter  a  cry. 

"Oh,  my  God!"  She  pressed  her  hands  to  her 
forehead,  almost  as  if  she  was  afraid  that  everything 
would  go. 

The  sense  of  intolerable  tension  was  relieved  by  a 
thud  upon  the  carpet.  It  was  the  sound  of  a  body 
falling.  She  turned  to  look  at  the  sofa,  and  found 
Aline  insensible  upon  the  floor, 

Evelyn  gathered  the  frail  form  in  her  strong  arms. 
She  laid  it  on  the  sofa.  Then  she  knelt  and  chafed 
the  cold  hands.  When  a  little  warmth  had  been 
restored  to  them  Evelyn  rose  unsteadily.  Her 
temples  were  throbbing  as  if  they  would  burst. 
She  seemed  hardly  able  to  breathe. 

She  walked  across  to  the  window  and  opened  it, 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  335 

and  thrust  forth  her  head  to  meet  the  rain.  Hardly 
aware  of  what  she  did,  her  unseeing  eyes  roved  out  to 
the  landscape.  And  then  all  at  once  her  attention 
was  caught  by  a  distant  object.  Below  and  away 
beyond  the  inn-yard,  at  the  extreme  verge  of  the 
mist,  perhaps  a  hundred  yards  distant,  the  faint  and 
blurred  outline  of  a  sombre  figure  fixed  her  eyes. 

The  figure  was  that  of  a  man  in  the  act  of  closing 
a  gate.  Such  a  detached  human  effigy  was  without 
significance  for  a  mind  distraught,  and  yet  in  some 
remote  way  it  had  the  power  to  make  a  direct 
personal  appeal.  Straining  her  eyes  to  meet  it  as  it 
came  slowly  and  heavily  through  the  mire  of  the 
inn-yard,  the  light  of  the  morning  began  imper- 
ceptibly to  clothe  it  with  a  familiar  aspect.  The 
senses  were  too  overwrought  to  realize  what  was 
happening.  But  the  Impact  of  the  oncoming  figure 
was  unmistakable.  It  was  rather  tall,  and  had  a 
gait  that  was  a  little  ungainly,  although  the  stride 
was  large  and  free.  And  then  a  rush  of  blood  dark- 
ened her  eyes  and  her  senses  reeled. 

With  a  cry  she  ran  to  the  sofa,  and  with  wild 
caresses  embraced  the  shivering  form  that  lay  in- 
ertly upon  it. 


XIX 

HE  IS  comingback!" Evelyn  whispered  hoarsely. 
The  four  simple  words  were  too  much  for  the 
woman  who  loved  the  victor.  In  a  surge  of  feeling 
altogether  beyond  her  control  she  strained  close 
to  her  who  spoke.  All  was  forgotten  in  that  moment. 
The  long,  slow,  inevitable  antagonism  was  almost  as 
though  it  had  never  been. 

"He  is  coming  back  1 "    The  wife  repeated  the  words. 

Gratitude  had  brought  reaction.  Almost  for  the 
first  time  she  was  melted  to  tears.  The  proud  spirit 
was  broken. 

There  came  the  sound  of  a  heavy,  deliberate 
footfall  on  the  stairs. 

"He  is  here!" 

Together  they  rose  to  receive  him. 

He  entered  the  shabby  little  room  with  the  same 
air  of  deliberation  with  which  he  had  left  it.  The 
wet  was  gleaming  on  his  overcoat.  Evelyn  drew  back 
a  little  in  order  that  Aline  might  come  forward  to 
help  him  to  remove  it. 

Hardly  any  change  had  taken  place  in  him.  His 
face  had  still  a  deadly  pallor,  but  his  eyes  in  lieu  of 

336 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  337 

their  inscrutable  sombreness  had  almost  the  light  of 
exaltation. 

Neither  woman  uttered  a  word.  Draper  stood 
between  them.  He  took  the  hand  of  each,  but  he 
had  the  look  of  a  man  who  walks  in  his  sleep. 

"  If  it  is  anything  we  oughtn't  to  hear !"  said 

Evelyn  in  a  voice  that  emotion  had  rendered  un- 
recognizable. 

The  sound  of  her  voice,  which  was  yet  so  remote 
from  her  own,  had  the  effect  of  bringing  him  back 
to  the  present.  He  started  as  one  in  the  act  of 
emerging  from  a  dream. 

"I   will   tell   you   exactly  what   happened,"    he 

said,  "unless !"     He  pressed  gently  the  cold 

fingers  of  his  friend. 

"Unless!"  she  echoed,  beginning  to  tremble. 

"No,  it  is  not  that,"  he  said  quickly.  "We  never 
met  at  all." 

"You  never  met  at  all!"  She  repeated  the 
incredible  phrase  very  slowly.  "But  that  is  not 
Rockingham. " 

"As  you  have  always  said,  my  dear  Evelyn,  we 
none  of  us  know  our  Rockingham. " 

A  great  surge  of  feeling  threatened  to  overmaster 
her. 

"Yes,  that  is  true  at  any  rate,"  she  assented  a 
little  hysterically.  "We  none  of  us  know  our 
Rockingham."     She    fought    for    composure    and 


338  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

finally  gained  it.     "Tell  me,  please,  in  two  words, 
what  occurred. " 

"It  can  be  told  in  less.  But  no,  it  shall  be  told 
with  circumstance."  In  spite  of  an  iron  control 
he  kept  upon  himself  he  could  not  repress  a  certain 
ring  in  his  voice.  "Grundy  and  I  walked  through 
the  mud  across  the  fields  to  the  place  he  and  Loring 
had  selected.  Loring  had  been  chosen  by  Rocking- 
ham as  his  second.  It  was  three  minutes  after 
eight  by  the  time  we  got  there,  but  there  was  not 
a  sign  of  either  of  our  men.  We  took  shelter  under 
the  trees  of  a  sort  of  spinney  near  by  and  awaited 
their  arrival.  We  filled  in  the  time  by  discussing 
the  mysteries  of  .38  Webleys,  a  pair  of  which  Loring 
had  undertaken  to  provide.  I  had  to  confess  that 
I  had  never  fired  off  a  pistol  in  my  life,  whereupon 
I  was  informed  that  Rockingham  was  considered 
rather  an  expert  shot.  Rather  tactless  of  my 
second,  I  thought.  Well,  to  cut  a  long  story  short, 
we  waited  solemnly  until  twenty  minutes  past 
eight,  then,  lo  and  behold!  Loring  came  alone 
across  the  fields.  There  was  never  a  sign  of 
Rockingham.  *Come,  where  is  your  man?'  I  asked, 
feeling  a  greater  access  of  valour  than  I  think  I 
have  ever  experienced  in  my  life.  'Reading  the 
words  of  Thackeray,  like  a  wise  fellow,'  growled 
poor  Loring,  the  very  picture  of  a  discomfited 
sportsman.     *But  he's  sent  you  this,'     He  began  to 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  339 

fumble  in  his  mackintosh.  *That  is,  if  I  can  find 
the  damned  thing. '  My  lord  fumbled  and  fumbled, 
but  he  was  hanged  if  he  could  find  the  thing.  *Upon 
my  word,  Loring,'  said  Grundy,  looking  more  war- 
like than  I  ever  thought  him  to  be  capable  of  looking, 
*you  are  absolutely  the  most  incompetent  second 
I  have  ever  had  to  do  with  in  the  whole  course  of  my 
experience.'  'Oh,  you  wait  a  minute  and  be 
damned  to  you,'  said  Loring.  'I  shall  find  it 
presently.'  'What  are  you  looking  for.f*'  I  asked. 
'Wait  till  I've  found  it  and  then  you'll  know,' 
snapped  Loring.  He  began  to  go  through  each  one 
of  his  pockets  solemnly,  and  then  a  flash  of  inspira- 
tion came  to  him  and  he  remembered  that  he  had 
put  it  in  his  cigar  case.  Finally  he  produced  the 
document,  and  here  it  is  for  you  to  read." 

Draper  produced  the  letter  in  question  and  handed 
it  to  Evelyn  Rockingham.  The  envelope  was 
inscribed  in  the  rather  florid  handwriting  of  the 
duke  to  the  Right  Honourable  James  Draper,  M.  P. 
She  read  as  follows: 

Sir:  Yielding  to  the  importunity  of  my  col- 
leagues, I  have  decided  not  to  keep  the  appointment 
made  on  my  behalf  for  this  morning  at  eight  o'clock. 
I  may  say  that  this  step  involves  my  withdrawal 
from  political  life.  I  remain,  sir,  your  obedient 
servant, 

Rockingham.  " 


340  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

The  wife  of  Rockingham  made  no  comment  upon 
this  document.  Knowing  the  veiled  ambition  of 
the  man,  knowing  his  sensitive  dignity,  she  realized 
that  this  had  not  been  an  easy  letter  to  write. 

"Poor  Robert!"  she  said  at  last  in  a  rather  queer 
voice. 

"Poor  Rockingham .f"'  he  echoed  softly. 

"Well,  it  was  bound  to  happen  to  one  of  you," 
said  Evelyn.  "There  would  have  been  no  room 
for  you  both  in  one  Cabinet.  But  enormous  pres- 
sure must  have  been  brought  to  bear  upon  him. 
Your  victory  is  swifter  and  more  complete  than 
your  friends  could  have  hoped." 

"The  victory  is  not  mine,"  said  Draper.  "It 
is  the  victory  of  the  day  and  generation.  The  old 
order  changes.  Rockingham  stood  for  the  past; 
a  very  brilliant,  rather  tragic,  not  inglorious  past. 
He  stood  for  the  few  against  the  many.  And  the 
many  have  prevailed,  as  prevail  they  always  must, 
if  they  are  only  efficiently  organized  and  efficiently 
led.  It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  the  world  will 
have  no  reason  to  regret  his  decision. " 

"I  echo  that  prayer,"  said  Evelyn  softly.  "I 
can  only  say  I  believe  the  world  will  be  the  better 
for  his  withdrawal.  The  few  may  have  less  in  the 
way  of  cushions  to  lie  on,  but  I  think  the  many 
will  at  least  be  assured  of  a  mattress  or  a  bundle 
of  straw.     Do  you  agree  with  me.  Aline?" 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  341 

The  wife  of  Draper,  still  wearing  her  dinner  dress 
of  the  evening  before,  stood  near  the  fire  with  her 
cloak  gathered  round  her  shoulders.  In  spite  of 
an  expression  of  joy  in  her  face  she  looked  very- 
worn  and  pale. 

"I  am  afraid  I  don't  understand  these  things," 
she  said.  "I  never  have  understood  them.  I  only- 
know  that  I  have  never  liked  the  many." 

"Yet  you  married  one  of  them,"  said  her  husband. 

"No,"  she  rejoined  with  a  wan  smile,  "I  married 
one  of  the  few. " 

Evelyn  Rockingham  loosed  a  peal  of  laughter. 

"What  have  you  to  say  to  that,  my  democrat!" 
she  cried. 

The  democrat  had  to  admit  that  he  was  baffled. 


XX 

THE  door  of  the  sitting-room  opened  to  admit 
the  leader  of  the  Centre.  Mr.  Grundy,  urbane 
of  countenance,  entered  light  yet  firm  of  step. 

He  bowed  to  the  two  women  and  then  shook 
hands  with  Draper. 

"Allow  me,"  he  said,  "to  be  the  first  to  oflfer 
congratulations  to  the  Prime  Minister  of  England." 

Draper  changed  colour  ever  so  slightly. 

"I  have  been  asked  to  convey  to  you,"  said  the 
leader  of  the  Centre,  perhaps  a  little  rhetorically, 
"the  unanimous  invitation,  subject  to  the  King's 
approval,  of  the  three  parties  to  undertake  the  task 
of  forming  a  Government.  Further,  you  are  em- 
powered to  exercise  an  absolutely  free  hand  in  the 
formation  of  a  Cabinet. " 

Mr.  Draper  bowed  his  head.  They  noticed  how 
white  it  had  become.  The  tall,  rather  ungainly 
figure  looked  bent  and  aged.  The  luminous  face 
was  strangely  furrowed  by  suffering. 

"My  dear  friend,"  he  said  humbly,  with  tears 
in  his  eyes,  as  he  placed  his  hand  in  that  of  his 
colleague,  "I  rejoice  that  if  such  news  had  to  be 

342 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  343 

brought  to  me  you  are  the  bearer.  We  have  fought 
many  battles  side  by  side.  I  hope  you  will  help 
me  now. " 

The  elder  and  less  emotional  man  was  also  visibly 
moved. 

"Any  little  aid  it  may  be  mine  to  give,"  he  said 
simply,  "I  freely  bestow.  I  rejoice  that  in  this 
dark  hour  the  country  has  been  visited  by  wisdom, 
I  will  even  say  visited  by  as  great  a  wisdom  as  it 
has  ever  known.  I  also  rejoice  that  it  has  so  wise 
and  true  a  friend  in  the  Throne."  He  clasped  the 
right  hand  of  his  colleague  in  both  his  own.  "God 
be  with  you,  my  dear  fellow!     God  bless  you!" 

The  emotions  not  of  the  men  alone,  but  of  the 
women  also,  had  been  wrought  to  a  pitch  of  curious 
intensity.  A  silence  ensued  which  was  broken  at 
last  by  Evelyn  Rockingham. 

"  It  insures  a  measure  of  industrial  peace,"  she  said. 
"We  can  all  congratulate  ourselves  upon  that." 

"Yes,  I  think  it  does,"  said  the  leader  of  the 
Centre. 

"Perhaps  at  a  great  cost  to  some  of  us,"  said 
Evelyn. 

"Perhaps,"  said  the  leader  of  the  Centre.  "Yet 
I  feel  we  are  all  entitled  to  hope  not.  The  situation 
is  one  of  great  peril  and  difficulty,  but  we  all  realize 
now  with  devout  and  thankful  hearts  that  the  hour 
has  brought  forth  the  man.     I  think  it  is  no  idle 


344  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

prophecy  that  the  Prime  Minister  will  have  a  united 
Cabinet  which  will  prove  capable  of  restoring  order 
in  the  country. " 

"We  will  pray  that  it  succeeds,"  said  Evelyn 
Rockingham.  And  then  she  added  with  a  rather 
strained  laugh  to  cloak  the  unabashed  curiosity  of 
her  sex,  "Perhaps  now,  Mr.  Grundy,  you  will  kindly 
tell  us  what  the  sealed  letter  contained  that  was  sent 
by  the  King  to  Evan  Mauleverer." 

"My  dear  Duchess,  I  wager  you  have  guessed 
that  long  ago,"  said  Mr.  Grundy  with  an  arch  smile. 

"I  will  hazard  a  guess,  at  all  events.  Was  it  not 
to  inform  all  whom  it  might  concern  that  in  the 
event  of  Rockingham  being  unable  to  complete 
his  Cabinet  there  was  only  one  man  in  the  kingdom 
who  could  insure  the  safety  of  the  monarchy?" 

Mr.  Grundy  was  proof  against  this  feminine  im- 
portunity. 

"The  secrets  of  the  constitution  are  sacred,"  he 
said  with  a  rather  mischievous  smile. 

"Admit,  at  least,  that  my  long  shot  is  uncom- 
fortably near  the  target. " 

"Not  a  thousand  miles  off  the  target,  perhaps. 
And  perchance  the  shot  itself  is  not  made  at  quite 
the  long  range  you  would  have  us  believe. " 

"My  dear  Mr.  Grundy,  I  wish  you  would  be  a 
little  less  cryptic.  Yet  I  have  observed  it  to  be 
a  quality  that  flourishes  in  the  hearts  of  all  who 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  345 

have  been  Prime  Ministers.  Still  there  is  one  small 
fact  that  may  not  be  without  an  interest  for  you. 
When  the  secret  history  of  this  troublous  time 
comes  to  be  written,  the  inspiration  of  this  famous 
letter  is  not  unlikely  to  be  traced  to  a  meddlesome 
female  of  the  period. " 

Mr.  Grundy  held  his  hands  high  before  his  face, 
almost  as  if  he  would  rebuke  such  levity. 

"Duchess,  you  are  incorrigible!"  he  said. 

"And  now  that  I  have  given  away  this  great 
secret,"  she  said,  "may  I  in  turn  demand  one? 
Tell  me,  was  it  not  that  letter  that  finally  undid 
Rockingham?" 

Mr.  Grundy  shook  his  responsible,  statesmanlike 
head. 

As  Evelyn  Rockingham  had  put  the  question,  hef 
air  of  badinage  had  seemed  suddenly  to  desert  her. 

"There  is  no  need  for  you  to  answer."  Her  voice 
fell.  "I  know  that.  I  feel  it  here."  She  placed 
her  hand  on  her  heart.  "Poor  dear  Robert!  What 
a  strange  coil  the  gods  weave  about  us  when  they 
set  to  work!  Who  could  have  foreseen  that  that 
letter  involved  his  complete  and  final  overthrow?" 

"Evan  Mauleverer  foresaw  it  at  any  rate," 
said  the  leader  of  the  Centre,  almost  with  the  air  of 
one  who  speaks  aside.  "As  soon  as  the  letter  was 
opened  he  pulled  his  long  face  and  said,  *At  all 
events,  that's  the  end  of  Us.' " 


346  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Sapient  man!"  said  Evelyn  Rockingham.  "But 
opposition  always  seems  to  sharpen  his  wits  for  him. 
Do  tell  me,  was  Robert  present  when  that  letter  was 
read  to  his  Cabinet?" 

"Ah,  no!  His  Grace  was  in  his  chamber  busily 
preparing  a  trout  fly. " 

"Are  you  quite  sure  his  Grace  was  not  absorbed 
in  the  study  of  "Vanity  Fair?"  It  is  always  well 
to  give  a  touch  of  colour  to  the  histoire  intime  of  a 
really  critical  period. " 

"It  may  have  been  so,"  said  the  leader  of  the 
Centre,  conceding  the  point  gracefully.  "At  least 
it  may  have  been  sufficiently  so  for  the  matter  to 
be  debated  by  the  well-informed  in  the  time  to  come. 
But  at  all  events  it  may  be  accepted  beyond  con- 
troversy that  his  Grace  was  in  his  chamber  when 
the  famous  document  was  read  aloud  to  the  members 
of  his  Cabinet. " 

Evelyn  laughed  a  little  wryly. 

"It  is  well,  at  least,"  she  said,  "to  establish  that 
salient  fact  upon  a  historic  basis.  Now  please  tell 
me  this,  Mr.  Grundy  —  if  you  would  see  me  the 
Madame  Liebenstein  of  the  future  —  who  was  it 
who  finally  bore  the  epoch-making  document  to  be 
perused  by  his  Grace  in  the  sanctity  of  the  ducal 
apartment?    Was  it  poor  dear  Evan  himself?" 

"No,"  said  the  leader  of  the  Centre,  "poor  dear 
Evan  rather  funked  it. " 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  347 

'' Really  iunkedjlV' 

"Well,  you  see,  with  that  letter  to  guide  us,  we 
ventured  to  draw  up  a  round  robin,  which,  by  the 
way,  every  man  of  us  signed,  earnestly  praying  the 
duke  in  the  name  of  his  King  and  country  to  refrain 
from  taking  the  field  at  eight  o'clock. " 

"Oho !     How  delicious !    At  what  hour  was  that  ?" 

"A  quarter  past  seven  by  the  morning." 

"One  foresees  that  the  memoirs  will  have  un 
succes  fou.  Now  tell  me  this,  Mr.  Grundy:  If  it 
was  not  poor  dear  Evan  who  had  the  courage  to 
bear  the  round  robin  of  the  Cabinet  together  with 
the  communication  of  the  Sovereign  to  his  Grace 
in  the  sanctity  of  the  ducal  apartment,  who  was 
the  paladin?  I  demand  the  name  of  that  Bayard 
in  the  sacred  name  of  the  muse  of  history. " 

"I,  my  dear  Duchess,  I  was  the  man,"  said  the 
leader  of  the  Centre  modestly. 

"And  alone  you  did  it.?" 

"Alone  I  did  it." 

"Now  tell  me  this,  Mr.  Grundy,  and  I  promise 
it  shall  be  my  last  question:  In  what  manner  did 
Robert  receive  his  cong^?^^ 

Mr.  Grundy  smiled  rather  dourly. 

"Well,"  said  he,  "if  I  must  speak  the  truth,  he 
took  it  with  absolute  indifference.  It  was  really 
wonderful.  It  was  as  though  he  could  hardly  bring 
himself  to  be  interested  in  the  matter  at  all. " 


348  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"Yes  —  but  that  is  so  like  him." 

"Well,  it  was  a  very  remarkable  exhibition  con-, 
sidering  what  it  must  have  meant  to  him.  Poor 
fellow!" 

There  was  an  odd  note  of  sympathy  in  the  voice 
of  the  leader  of  the  Centre.  He  was  a  man  who 
differed  fundamentally  from  such  a  man  as  Rocking- 
ham. There  was  scarcely  anything  they  had  in 
common  unless  it  was  a  desire  to  conserve  the 
resources  of  their  country.  Indeed,  deep  down 
in  their  characters  was  a  very  real  antagonism. 
But  the  note  of  pity  rang  true  and  somehow  it  had 
the  power  to  touch  a  responsive  chord  in  the  heart 
of  Rockingham's  wife. 

Suddenly  she  felt  a  stab  of  remorse.  Was  she 
not  rejoicing  in  the  tents  of  her  husband's  victorious 
enemies,  when  he,  utterly  overthrown,  lay  sick  of 
his  wounds.  She  had  never  loved  Rockingham,  she 
had  never  understood  him.  If  for  any  length  of 
time  she  allowed  her  mind  to  dwell  on  that  enig- 
matic personality,  a  sense  of  deep-rooted  aversion 
was  invariably  aroused  in  it. 

But  remorse  came  upon  her  now.  She  had  a 
subtle  consciousness  that  more  than  any  one  she 
had  contrived  his  defeat.  All  feeling  for  him  was 
long  since  dead,  but  there  was  enough  of  the  woman 
in  her  to  make  her  suffer  a  vicarious  pang  that  his 
overthrow  should  be  so  complete. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  349 

There  and  then,  upon  a  sudden  impulse,  she  deter- 
mined to  take  a  course  that  in  victory  would  have 
been  impossible.  She  would  go  to  him.  Perhaps 
she  might  be  able  to  help  him  a  little.  It  might 
even  be  given  to  her  to  staunch  the  grievous  wound 
that  she  herself  had  dealt. 


XXI 

IT  was  not  immediately  possible  for  Evelyn 
to  translate  her  strange  resolve  into  action. 
At  the  instance  of  the  leader  of  the  Centre,  whose 
practical  mind  was  apt  to  repose  upon  a  purely 
material  basis,  breakfast  was  in  process  of  being 
prepared  for  four  persons. 

The  two  statesmen  were  insistent  that  she  should 
share  their  modest  meal.  It  was  their  intention, 
as  soon  as  nature  had  been  fortified,  to  repair  to 
London.  At  the  earliest  moment  they  proposed  to 
carry  in  person  to  the  King  the  tidings  of  the  all- 
important  decision. 

There  could  be  little  doubt  that  the  public  safety 
was  assured.  The  knot  had  been  cut  by  Rocking- 
ham's withdrawal.  The  ablest  man  in  the  country 
was  now  free  to  govern  it.  The  moderate  men  of 
all  faiths,  the  real  backbone  of  the  nation,  had 
rallied  to  his  standard.  In  spite  of  all  the  massed 
and  subtle  forces  of  reaction,  a  solution  along  the 
line  of  true  development  was  now  possible. 

Having  regard  to  the  exigencies  of  the  situation, 
the  meal  was  surprisingly  cheerful.     Suspense  it  is 

350 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  351 

that  kills.  The  long  night  of  doubt,  of  conflict,  of 
divided  counsel  was  at  an  end.  Rightly  or  wrongly, 
for  better,  for  worse,  the  course  of  the  ship  of  state 
was  now  clear. 

"Duchess,"  said  Mr.  Grundy  as  he  handed  her 
a  boiled  egg  —  the  precarious  nature  of  the  inn 
cookery  forbade  anything  more  elaborate  —  "I 
think  you  deserve  well  of  your  country. " 

"Yes,  I  think  she  does,"  said  Lady  Aline,  who  was 
seated  opposite  to  her. 

The  face  of  Evelyn  Rockingham  was  suddenly 
flecked  with  colour.  In  the  simple  speech  of  the 
woman  who  had  misunderstood  her  motives  was  the 
vindication  of  much  that  she  had  done. 

"Thank  you,  my  dear  Aline,"  she  said.  "You 
cannot  think  what  it  means  to  me  that  you  should 
say  that." 

"May  I  thank  you  also,"  said  Mr.  Draper. 

"For  what  have  either  of  you  to  thank  me?" 
said  Lady  Aline. 

"We  thank  you  for  your  magnanimity,"  said 
Evelyn  Rockingham. 

"In  misjudging  one  so  much  better  than  my- 
self?" 

"No,  not  for  that,"  said  Evelyn.  "I  say  to  you 
quite  frankly  that  I  cannot  presume  to  claim  the 
least  superiority.  Since  last  night  you  are  so  much 
more  than  you  were." 


352  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

"  I  pray,  my  dear  Evelyn,  that  that  may  be  said 
of  us  all,"  said  Mr.  Draper  in  his  sombre  voice. 
"It  is  hardly  likely  that  any  one  of  us  can  pass 
through  such  an  ordeal  without  adding  a  cubit  to 
our  stature." 

"I  quite  agree,"  said  Mr.  Grundy,  helping  himself 
to  a  second  egg. 

"One  wonders  if  the  same  can  be  said  of  poor  dear 
Robert,"  said  Evelyn  Rockingham  in  a  voice  that 
fell.     "One  wonders  if  he  has  added  his  cubit  also." 

"  I  am  perfectly  convinced  of  it,  my  dear  Duchess," 
said  Mr.  Grundy.  "Of  course  we  none  of  us  know 
our  Rockingham,  as  I  believe  you  are  ever  the  first 
to  allow,  but  there  is  just  one  thing  I  would  like  to 
say  to  you  here  and  now.  As  one  who  has  seen 
something  of  the  duke  during  these  negotiations, 
I  would  like  to  place  on  record  that  I  believe  him 
to  be  a  very  valuable  asset  to  his  country.  He  has 
the  mind  of  a  statesman,  and  the  heart  of  a  patriot, 
and  that  is  much  to  say  of  any  man. " 

Mr.  Grundy's  words  were  charged  with  a  depth 
of  feeling  that  surprised  his  hearers.  Such  a  per- 
sonality as  that  of  Rockingham  must  have  been 
antipathetic  to  him  in  almost  every  fibre.  But 
throughout  that  long  night  of  conflict  these  two 
alien  natures  had  stood  staunchly  together  in  a  last 
desperate  attempt  to  stave  off  irreparable  disaster. 
The  goal  had  been  won  at  the  price  of  bitter  sacrifice 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  353 

to  one  of  them,  and  the  leader  of  the  Centre  now 
paid  homage  to  him  whom  a  few  hours  ago  he  might 
have  been  tempted  to  judge  very  differently. 

The  silence  which  followed  Mr.  Grundy's  words 
was  broken  at  last  by  the  deep  voice  of  the  Prime 
Minister. 

"He  is  a  man  I  cannot  even  begin  to  understand," 
he  said  with  perfect  simplicity.  "But  at  least  we 
will  hope  he  has  added  his  cubit  also." 

Evelyn  Rockingham  rose  suddenly  from  the  table. 

"It  is  time  I  went  to  him,"  she  said,  "to  find  out 
for  myself.  Poor  Robert!  Perhaps  he  may  have 
need  of  me."  A  feminine  pang  passed  through 
her  as  she  spoke. 

She  took  an  affectionate  leave  of  the  two  states- 
men. They  were  about  to  motor  to  London,  to 
convey  the  decision  to  the  King.  Upon  descending 
the  stairs  she  found  a  car  waiting  for  them  at  the 
inn  door. 

It  was  her  intention  to  walk  back  to  the  house. 
It  was  less  than  half  a  mile  distant,  and  she  was  shod 
and  clad  well  enough  to  cope  with  a  typical  February 
morning. 

As  had  been  the  case  throughout  the  night,  it  was 
still  raining  steadily,  but  in  no  great  volume.  The 
air  of  the  morning  seemed  delicious  after  the  rather 
fetid  atmosphere  of  the  little  inn  sitting-room. 

She  had  not  left  the  neighbourhood  of  the  inn  door 


354  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

before  a  second  motor-car  drove  up  quickly.  A 
man  alighted  from  it  almost  without  waiting  for  it 
to  stop.  He  was  clearly  taken  aback  by  :6.nding 
himself  confronted  by  Evelyn  Rockingham 

"Halloa!"  he  said. 

The  man  was  Lord  Loring. 

"Is  anything  the  matter,  Loring .f"'  she  asked. 

There  was  something  in  his  swift  descent  from 
the  car,  in  the  way  in  which  he  spoke,  in  the  look 
on  his  rather  bucolic  face,  that  somehow  suggested 
that  there  was. 

"Oh,  no,"  he  said  curtly,  and  with  an  obvious  effort 
to  find  words.     "Tell  me  —  have  they  started  yet?" 

"No;  you  will  find  them  upstairs  finishing  break- 
fast." 

"Thank  goodness!"  Loring's  relief  was  evident. 
"  I  was  afraid  they  might  have  gone  already.  I  have 
something  of  importance  to  tell  them. " 

"Is  it  anything  that  I  can  hear  too?" 

The  face  of  Loring  seemed  to  grow  more  perturbed. 

"I  would  rather  speak  to  them  in  private,"  he 
said  curtly. 

"Very  well,  I  will  go  back  to  the  house.  I  want 
to  see  poor  Robert.  I  hope  nothing  has  occurred 
to  alter  the  situation. " 

She  turned  her  head  as  she  spoke  and  beheld 
Loring  in  the  act  of  disappearing  hastily  through 
the  door  of  the  inn. 


XXII 

FOR  a  moment  she  stood  on  the  inn  threshold 
in  a  state  of  acute  indecision.  She  would 
dearly  have  liked  to  turn  and  follow  Loring.  But  a 
very  little  reflection  prevented  her  from  doing  this. 
Instead,  she  set  out  on  her  walk  to  the  house. 

Her  thoughts  jostled  one  another  in  her  head  in  a 
strange  medley.  Even  without  the  dramatic  appear- 
ance of  Loring  at  the  inn  door  her  overwrought  brain 
held  matters  sufficiently  complex.  But  his  arrival, 
in  a  state  of  such  obvious  discomposure,  served 
somehow  to  bring  a  new  uneasiness.  What  could 
it  mean  f  Had  some  new  turn  been  given  to  a  situa- 
tion that  still  remained  tense  .f* 

It  was  idle  to  speculate  on  such  a  slender  premise. 
Accordingly,  with  that  masculine  resolution  that 
never  deserted  her,  she  dismissed  Loring  from  her 
thoughts  for  the  time  being,  and  allowed  her  mind 
to  envisage  the  situation  as  a  whole.  She  was  suf- 
ficiently in  touch  with  it  to  know  that  the  supreme 
phase  of  the  crisis  was  past.  The  leaders  of 
the  three  parties  in  common  with  the  world  at 
large  had   been   forced   to    recognize    the    genius 

355 


356  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

of  the  man  who  from  the  beginning  she  had  blindly 
sustained. 

As  she  walked  up  the  avenue  to  the  house  her 
mind  reverted  to  the  irony  of  her  own  position.  The 
triumph  of  her  hero,  in  whose  success  she  had  borne 
so  large  a  part,  meant  total  eclipse  for  the  man 
whose  wife  she  was,  whom  she  was  now  on  the  way 
to  console. 

In  what  manner  would  he  receive  her?  They 
were  still  friends,  as  friends  they  had  always  been. 
She  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  his  name  and  status, 
for  which  as  a  young  woman  she  had  been  unwise 
enough  to  marry  him.  Perhaps  in  those  far-off  days 
she  had  been  dazzled  by  the  glamour  of  the  person- 
ality they  embellished.  Rockingham  had  always 
known  how  to  wield  a  power  over  women.  He  was 
so  much  the  preux  chevalier.  The  bel  air  was  so 
much  in  evidence.  Few  could  resist  a  nobility  of 
bearing  that  was  the  joy  and  the  despair  of  the  con- 
temporary painter. 

But  when  they  came  to  know  their  Rockingham! 
was  her  comment  on  this  glowing  mirage  of  the  fancy, 
which  even  after  all  these  years  of  estrangement  re- 
mained so  luminously  in  her  mind.  But  when  they 
came  to  know  their  Rockingham,  what  was  it  that 
they  found?  They  found  an  enigma,  in  one  aspect 
unbelievably  shallow,  in  another  curiously  subtle 
and  deep. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  357 

Still  the  paramount  question  for  her  was,  did 
anybody  know  their  Rockingham?  In  spite  of  her 
opportunities  she  would  be  the  last  to  claim  so  much. 
No,  the  man  was  an  enigma  to  his  wife,  to  his  friends, 
to  his  country,  perhaps  most  of  all  to  himself. 

On  entering  the  house  she  had  to  pass  through  the 
spacious  hall,  round  about  whose  large  open  fire- 
place all  the  men  of  the  house-party  with  one  ex- 
ception, perhaps  a  dozen  in  all,  were  assembled. 
The  exception  was  Rockingham. 

As  she  came  toward  them  she  could  hear  the  deep 
confused  hum  of  their  voices.  They  were  pitched 
so  low  that  she  could  not  catch  a  word  of  what  was 
said.  And  the  moment  they  saw  her  they  all  ceased 
talking  with  an  abruptness  that  was  rather  dramatic. 

Evelyn  looked  from  one  to  the  other,  but  among 
them  there  was  not  the  man  she  sought. 

"Can  you  tell  me  where  Robert  is.''"  she  asked. 

At  first  no  one  answered  her.  But  Mr.  Maul- 
everer,  who  was  seated  in  a  chair  some  little  distance 
apart  from  the  others,  rose  and  said  in  a  peculiarly 
slow  and  impressive  tone:  "I  believe  Robert  is  in 
his  room." 


XXIII 

I  WILL  go  to  him,"  said  Evelyn. 
An  odd  silence  followed  her  words.    There  was 
a   lapse  of   a  moment,  and   then  Mr.   Mauleverer 
spoke  again  —  and  again  with  his  slow  impressive- 
ness. 

"I  don't  exactly  think  I  would  do  that,"  he  said. 

There  was  nothing  in  the  tone  to  stimulate  curios- 
ity, yet  the  words  themselves  and  the  strange  hush 
amid  which  they  were  spoken  lent  them  an  impor- 
tance for  which  it  was  hard  to  account. 

"Why  not?"  she  said. 

Mr.  Mauleverer  repeated  her  question  in  a  musing 
tone,  almost  as  if  he  would  parry  it. 

"Yes,  Evan,  why  not?" 

Before  the  answer  could  be  given,  in  whatever 
It  might  consist,  there  came  an  interruption.  The 
sound  arose  of  a  door  opening  at  the  far  end  of  the 
hall.  The  master  of  the  house  was  heard  and  seen 
coming  toward  the  group  about  the  fireplace.  He 
was  followed  by  two  others.  A  glance  told  Evelyn 
that  one  of  them  was  Mr.  Grundy  and  that  the  other 
was  he  who  had  been  chosen  Prime  Minister. 

3S8 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  359 

It  was  a  moment  of  high  infinite  tension,  and  some- 
how the  faces  of  all  declared  it  to  be  so.  Loring 
came  first.  With  a  woman's  quick,  comprehending 
eye  Evelyn  saw  that  the  bucolic  Briton  had  been 
merged  in  the  anxious  mediocrity  who  is  oppres- 
sively conscious  of  the  fact  that  he  is  completely 
out  of  his  depth. 

He  came  right  into  the  midst  of  his  guests  with- 
out saying  a  word.  At  a  respectful  distance,  and 
strangely  silent  also,  the  two  statesmen  followed 

All  who  were  seated  rose  at  once.  But  not  one 
among  them  all  could  find  a  word  to  say.  It  was  a 
moment  of  poignant  intensity  in  which  all  stood 
awkwardly  still.  No  one  spoke  or  moved.  And 
then,  at  last,  almost  it  seemed  in  desperation,  the 
spell  was  broken  by  the  member  for  South  East 
Leeds. 

As  became  a  man  unfettered  by  subtleties  of 
emotional  experience,  Mr.  Ansell  stepped  forth  sud- 
denly from  the  midst  of  his  colleagues  with  hand 
outstretched. 

"Draper,"  he  said  in  his  hearty  voice,  "I  welcome 
you.  I  am  proud  to  be  associated  with  you.  I  am 
sure  you  are  the  right  man  in  the  right  place." 

Such  a  speech  in  such  circumstances  was  only 
possible  to  one  wholly  unfettered  by  delicacy.  But 
such  men  often  serve  their  turn.  Where  a  fastidious 
feeling  for  the  nuances  kept  others  tongue-tied,  this 


36o  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

crude  fellow  was  able  to  dispel  an  overpowering 
embarrassment  by  drawing  a  surprised  attention 
upon  himself. 

James  Draper  was  quick  to  respond.  He  took  a 
step  forward  to  meet  the  maladroit  man  of  com- 
merce who  had  saved  the  situation  and  promptly 
accepted  the  hand  that  was  offered. 

"Thank  you  very  much,  my  dear  Ansell,"  he  said 
with  a  simplicity  so  unstudied  that  it  could  hardly 
have  failed  to  disarm  the  most  critical.  "I  am  in- 
deed proud  to  have  you  for  a  colleague.  Gentlemen, 
I  am  proud  and  grateful  to  be  associated  with  you 
all  in  the  great  task  that  lies  before  us." 

There  was  something  magnetic  in  the  simple 
speech.  A  second  individual  detached  himself  from 
the  group  around  the  fireplace  and  took  his  hand. 

And  then  followed  a  third,  and  then  a  fourth. 
Thus  it  went  on,  each  in  turn  greeting  the  new  leader, 
until  only  one  was  left.  And  he  was  the  man  who 
by  attainment  and  authority  should  have  been  the 
first  to  step  forward  to  bridge  the  gulf. 

In  the  excitement  of  the  moment  it  was  hardly 
noticed  that  Evan  Mauleverer  had  withdrawn  from 
the  others.  Perhaps  only  Evelyn  Rockingham  was 
a  sufficiently  detached  observer  of  the  scene  to  per- 
ceive that  the  leader  of  the  Right  had  seated  himself 
and  had  taken  up  a  newspaper. 

Doubtless  it  was  well  that  she  only  appeared  to 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  361 

notice  it.  A  thrill  ran  across  her  nerves.  Could 
it  be  that  all  was  not  yet  won?  Such  an  action  at 
such  a  moment  was  almost  intolerably  significant. 

A  little  sickly  she  turned  away  from  the  scene. 
Somehow  it  was  more  than  she  could  endure.  The 
frank  acceptance  of  the  new  Prime  Minister  by  the 
lesser  lights  still  went  on,  but  when  all  was  said  Evan 
Mauleverer  was  the  man  who  counted.  He  must 
be  gained,  otherwise  it  might  prove  little  better 
than  a  Pyrrhic  victory. 

The  spectacle  of  the  leader  of  the  Right's  aloofness 
started  a  new  pain  in  her  mind.  Where  was  that 
other  leader?  Where  was  Rockingham?  If  the 
whole  position  had  been  yielded,  ought  not  he  to  be 
there?  Was  it  after  all  to  be  a  capitulation  merely 
in  name  ? 

She  must  go  and  see  Rockingham.  A  small  study 
in  a  distant  part  of  the  house  had  been  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  the  great  man.  It  was  in  this  rather 
remote  place,  not  altogether  easy  of  access  from  the 
main  portion  of  the  house,  that  he  was  said  to  have 
spent  the  night. 

She  made  her  way  at  once  along  the  inner  portions 
of  the  historic  dwelling  with  which  she  had  been 
familiar  from  her  childhood,  until  at  last  the  closed 
door  of  Rockingham's  room  confronted  her.  Upon 
trying  to  open  it  she  found  it  was  locked.  She 
tapped  smartly  upon  it  several  times,  but  no  sound 


362  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

came  from  within.  She  called  the  name  of  her  hus- 
band, but  again  there  was  no  response. 

While  she  stood  twisting  the  handle  of  the  door, 
mentally  debating  what  she  should  do  next,  there 
rose  a  sound  of  slow  steps  approaching  along  the 
corridor.  The  tall,  dignified  form  of  Evan  Maul- 
everer  came  into  view. 

"Robert  is  not  here,"  she  said.  "The  door  is 
locked  and  there  appears  to  be  no  one  in  the  room." 

"Yes,  he  is  there,  Evelyn." 

Suddenly  she  saw  that  the  eyes  of  the  leader  of  the 
Right  were  wet. 


XXIV 

MR.  MAULEVERER  placed  his  hand  on  her 
shoulder,  as  if  he  would  soften  the  blow  he 
was  about  to  deliver. 

"Robert  has  died  by  his  own  hand." 

She  accepted  the  stroke  without  a  tremor. 

Of  the  two  she  was  by  far  the  more  composed. 
The  shock  was  inevitably  awful,  inevitably  tragic. 
But  great  strength  of  will  was  hers,  and  it  never 
failed  her  in  a  crisis. 

Moreover,  she  had  never  loved  Rockingham;  and 
the  man  who  had  worked  and  fought  with  him  side  by 
side  in  a  common  cause  had  loved  him  very  deeply. 

There  was  a  silence  while  they  stood  close  together, 
with  somethingof  the  helplessness  of  a  pair  of  children. 

It  was  she  who  found  the  first  words  to  speak. 

"No,  we  none  of  us  knew  our  Rockingham,"  she 
said  at  last. 

"He  has  given  his  life  for  his  country,"  said  his 
friend,  with  the  tears  running  down  his  face. 

"Was  there  —  was  there  no  other  way  out?" 

"There  was  no  other  way  out  for  a  gentleman." 

"And  yet ^    No,  I  suppose  there  was   not. 

363 


364  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

And  yet  a  woman  can't  be  expected  to  understand 
these  things." 

"No,  she  cannot." 

Again  there  was  silence.  Each  was  suffering 
acutely.     Again  it  was  the  woman  who  spoke. 

"Shall  we  go  in?" 

"Do  you  really  wish  to  go  in.^*" 

"Yes." 

He  seemed  to  realize  her  great  strength  of  will. 
Forlornly  he  turned  on  his  heel. 

"I  will  fetch  the  key,"  he  said. 

She  watched  the  gaunt,  haggard  figure  recede 
along  the  dimly  lighted  corridor. 

She  felt  numb.  There  was  a  curious  chill  in  her 
veins.  But  the  strength  of  soul  which  carried  her 
through  everything  was  still  at  her  command. 

It  seemed  an  age  before  Evan  Mauleverer  returned. 

He  swayed  to  and  fro  as  he  came  toward  her, 
like  a  man  shattered  in  all  his  being. 

Without  an  instant's  delay  he  unlocked  the  door, 
and  opened  it  for  her  to  pass  in. 

"Don't  look,"  he  said. 

But  she  had  seen  already. 

He  was  lying  across  the  hearthrug  at  the  far  end  of 
the  room,  with  the  pistol  still  in  his  hand. 

Again  there  was  silence  while  she  peered  with  calm 
eyes  at  the  haggard  face  of  the  man  of  wisdom  and 
mastery  who  had  loved  Rockingham. 


CUTTING  THE  KNOT  365 

"Will  history  speak  of  him?"  she  said. 

Mr.  Mauleverer  shook  his  head  mournfully. 

"I  fear  not.  The  world  knows  nothing  of  its 
greatest." 

"You  think  he  is  numbered  among  them?" 

"Yes,  in  his  death." 

"He  died  to  save  England?" 

"Yes." 

The  leader  of  the  Right  was  weeping  like  a 
child. 

Suddenly  she  placed  a  hand  on  his  sleeve. 

"Evan,"  she  said  softly,  "  we  must  see  to  it  that 
he  has  not  died  in  vain." 

"I  don't  understand  you,  Evelyn." 

In  that  presence,  with  the  awful  shock  still  upon 
them,  it  was  not  the  moment  for  thought  to  leap  to 
thought.  But  now  that  she  had  realized  the  nature 
of  the  sacrifice,  she  could  not  endure  that  its  fruits 
should  be  lost. 

Almost  as  if  at  the  beck  of  the  train  of  thought 
that  was  stirring  in  her  mind  her  eyes  strayed  to  the 
writing-table  with  its  litter  of  papers  and  books. 
And  there  in  a  conspicuous  place  was  a  letter  ad- 
dressed in  Rockingham's  charcteristic  hand  to  the 
chief  among  his  friends. 

She  took  it  from  the  table  and  gave  it  to  him. 

He  fingered  it  irresolutely. 

"Read,"  she  said. 


366  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

A  prophetic  sense  seemed  to  enthrall  her. 
He  broke  the  seal,  read  the  letter,  and  then  handed 
it  to  her. 

She  read  the  following : 

Monday  Morning,  Eight  o'Clock. 

My  Dear  Evan:  You  and  I  know  that  this 
thing  has  been  played  up  far  too  high.  We  have 
fought  a  losing  battle  with  our  backs  to  the  wall,  and 
in  death  I  say  to  you  our  weapons  have  not  been 
clean.  Do  not  think  I  have  remorse.  We  have 
fought  for  a  great  stake  against  great  odds,  and  we 
were  not  in  a  position  to  be  delicate. 

The  decision  you  have  reached  is  the  only  one 
possible  in  the  circumstances.  There  is  no  disloy- 
alty; I  recognize  that  any  other  decision  would  have 
been  disloyal  to  the  Throne.  Trust  Draper.  He  is  an 
honest  man,  and  if  you  all  stand  by  him  he  will  save 
the  country. 

Good-bye,  my  dear  Evan.      Yours  in  eternity, 

Rockingham. 

She  handed  back  the  letter.  He  stood  dumb  and 
tense,  his  eyes  half  closed.  Not  a  word  was  spoken. 
The  presence  of  the  dead  held  them  in  thrall. 

Yet  again  it  was  she  who  broke  the  silence. 

'^Now  do  you  not  see  my  meaning?" 

He  did  not  answer  her. 

"Will  you  remain  in  this  room  for  a  few  moments.'*" 

He  inclined  his  head  slightly  but  did  not  speak. 
She  went  out  of  the  room,  charged  with  sudden  resolve. 


XXV 

IN  a  very  little  while  she  had  returned  to  the 
room. 

She  was  accompanied  by  him  who  three  hours  ago 
had  been  chosen  Prime  Minister.  It  was  plain  to 
tell  by  his  face  that  he  was  fully  cognizant  of  what 
had  occurred.  He  entered  the  room  with  his  usual 
straightforward  air,  but  in  every  line  was  the  in- 
stinctive good  breeding  that  springs  from  the  heart. 

With  Rockingham's  letter  still  in  his  hand,  Mr. 
Mauleverer  received  Mr.  Draper  with  his  stateliest 
bow.     The  bow  was  returned  with  equal  ceremony. 

"Mr.  Draper,"  said  the  leader  of  the  Right,  "the 
duke  has  expressed  a  desire  that  I  should  enter  your 
Cabinet." 

The  Prime  Minister  bowed  again. 

"I  am  prepared  to  respect  his  wishes,"  said  Mr. 
Mauleverer. 

"I  can  only  say,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Draper,  "that  by 
respecting  the  duke's  wishes  you  will  lay  the  country 
under  a  signal  obligation." 

"Upon  that  I  am  not  altogether  clear,"  said  the 
leader  of  the  Right.     "But  I  feel  that  the  country 

367 


368  AN  AFFAIR  OF  STATE 

owes  him  so  much,  that  as  far  as  I  am  concerned 
personally  I  regard  the  least  of  his  wishes  in  the 
light  of  a  command." 

"I  rejoice,  sir,  that  such  is  the  case,"  said  the 
Prime  Minister.  "Your  decision  will  enormously 
strengthen  his  Majesty's  Government.  I  at  least 
am  deeply  grateful,  and  I  am  sure  my  colleagues 
will  be  no  less  so." 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Draper,"  said  the  leader  of  the 
Right.  Even  he,  apparently,  was  touched  by  the 
warmth  and  sincerity  that  breathed  through  the 
words. 

"And  perhaps,  sir,"  said  the  Prime  Minister,  "it 
would  not  be  improper  at  such  a  moment,  and  in 
the  presence  of  him  who  is  noble  in  his  death,  to  re- 
cord my  own  feeling  about  him.  He  was  the  bitter- 
est of  my  adversaries,  but  I  would  say  to  you,  sir, 
the  first  among  his  friends,  that  no  man  can  realize 
more  fully  than  I  do  that  he  is  glorious  in  his  death. 
He  died  to  save  England,  and  no  nobler  requiem  can 
be  claimed  by  any  of  her  sons. 

THE   END 


THE  COXJNTRY  UFE  PRESS,  GARDEN  CITY,  N.  Y. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


III 


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